“Delicate balance” when Yamaha had Fabio Quartararo and Valentino Rossi
Outgoing Yamaha boss reflects on crucial decision

Yamaha have refl𓃲ected on the “interesting times” and the difficulty of balancing Fabio Quaꦿrtararo and Valentino Rossi on their books.
Rossi was moved from th꧑e fact𝓀ory team to their Petronas outfit for his final MotoGP season in 2021.
He made way for up-and-coming Quartararo to ride a factory Yama🌞ha - and he repaid the manufacturer by capturing the MotoGP championship.
“Taking Fabio to the Petronas team was a decision mainly made by the Petronas team at the time,” said outgoing Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis to⛄ .
“It was a bold move and they had nothing to lose.
“And then he beat Franco Morbidelli in his first year and ಌthen we negotiated with him to come to the factory team.
“When he came to the factory team we𒁏 had to move Valentino again because he was at the end of his career. So that was the [secondary] issue.
“But I think in the end the decision was vindicated, because once Fabio 💯joined the factory t🌸eam he went ‘bang’ and got #1 in his first year.
“These were interesting times and delicate balances and paral♕lel presences and delicate decisio𒁃ns to be made.”
Three years on, Quartararo is reportedly the 🦹highest-paid MotoGP rider after penning a new long-term deal to stay at Yamaha.
That is despite the woes experi𝄹enced by the manufacturer since his championship.
Quartararo wasꦗ denied by Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia at the final round of 2022, by which time his bike’s slump had begun.
He has now experienced two seas💟ons without fighting at the front but there is optimism that Yamahaꦜ can get back to winning ways.
The addition o🌳f Pramac as a satellite team in 2025 will double their riders on the grid, and double their ability to gather data.

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports fౠor a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.