Yamaha's MotoGP team has made more progress over the winter break than in the last five years combined, according to Fabio Quartararo. The French rider has been among the fastest on the track since the first official pre-season test began at Sepang, proving that Yamaha’s improvements are real.

Initially, some believed that Quartararo’s speed was due to Yamaha’s early start in a three-day shakedown test. However, by the time testing ended on Friday, it was clear that their pace was genuine. Quartararo finished third overall, just 0.231 seconds behind Alex Marquez, who topped the timesheets.

A Remarkable Improvement

Quartararo’s fastest lap was much faster than his qualifying time at Sepang just four months ago.

"Last year, my fastest qualifying lap was 57.5, so we’ve gained more than eight-tenths of a second," Quartararo explained. "From 2019 to 2024, we improved by six-tenths. But from 2024 to 2025, we’ve gained eight-tenths already! Of course, it's just testing, but it's a big step."

In 2019, Quartararo secured pole position at Sepang with a 1:58.303s lap, leading a Yamaha 1-2. Comparing that to his 2024 qualifying time of 1:57.592s, Yamaha had made a seven-tenths improvement over five years. However, in just the last four months, the team has made a much bigger improvement.

Strong Pace

Beyond his one-lap speed, Quartararo was also pleased with Yamaha's long-run performance. However, he acknowledged that factory Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia still have the power.

"I did two sets of six-lap runs with different settings on new tires, and it felt good," he said. "But Marc was running mid-to-high 56s and very low 58s, so there’s still a gap. Last year, we were finishing around P11 or P12 here. Now, we’re in the mix with Marc, Pecco, and Alex, who are the fastest. That’s a big step forward."

Yamaha has traditionally had a solid race pace, but Quartararo struggled in 2024 because of poor qualifying results, which left him too far back to fight at the front.

"Last year, our biggest issue was qualifying. We started fast, but overtaking was difficult," he admitted. "Now, before even doing my time attack, I knew I could do a 1m56s lap. Last year, we put on a new tire and had no idea what time we’d set. The race pace wasn’t the issue; starting from P15 was. It was impossible to overtake. But now, our engine is also a bit faster, so we’ll see how we manage in the first races."

With Yamaha's significant progress in both qualifying and race pace, Quartararo is optimistic about the upcoming season. While Ducati remains the benchmark, Yamaha’s latest improvement could bring them back into the competition.