The way Lewis Hamilton rocked Formula 1 with his seemingly abrupt decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari was always ripe for comparison with any other major team change scenario playing out elsewhere in motorsport or the future of F1 .
MotoGP already had an equivalent with Marc Marquez leaving Honda for Gresini Ducati and with the rider market unsteady starting in 2024, it’s set for a lot more.
But when Yamaha MotoGP boss Lin Jarvis mentioned both of Hamilton’s shock F1 team moves (McLaren to Mercedes and then Mercedes to Ferrari) in relation to Fabio Quartararo, he did not do so in relation to the possibility of the star of. leaving as Hamilton leaves Mercedes, but in terms of how Yamaha could go about keeping him.
There are some superficial parallels between Quartararo’s current situation and Hamilton’s at both McLaren (which he abruptly left for Mercedes in 2013) and Mercedes (which he will now swap for Ferrari in 2025).
Like Quartararo’s time at Yamaha, both of Hamilton’s stints brought him no shortage of silverware – but, as Yamaha have done for the past two seasons, both McLaren and Mercedes were stagnant in the years leading up to Hamilton’s decisions.
However, that is not the way Jarvis sees it. Instead, he sees rival attempts to sign Hamilton as informative, especially in terms of the long-term promise being prioritized.
“If we are not 100% competitive this year, we have to convince ourselves of that [through] our investments, we’re making progress,” Jarvis said when asked about the task of keeping Quartararo, whose Yamaha deal expires at the end of the current season.
“Because if you sign a contract, you’re not signing a contract for the bike you have, you’re signing it for the bike you expect to have in the future.
“And it’s interesting to see Lewis Hamilton’s change now. Because it’s a big, boring change he makes.
“And I remember, and he mentioned it himself this week, that he made a big change in 2013. When he went to Mercedes, a lot of people, myself included, I also said, ‘Really, are you sure?!’ .
“Obviously he knew something, he had some confidence that they were putting in what was necessary for him to be competitive in the future.
“Well, the most important thing about choosing a rider, and [also recruiting a] satellite group, is to convince them of our intention, ability, skills for the future.”
Yamaha’s long-term vision
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The contrast here—beyond the philosophical difference in hiring an outside hire versus convincing a current employee to stay—is that both of Hamilton’s moves came right before a major engine-side regulation change.
His pivot to Mercedes was a huge success thanks to maximizing F1’s switch to hybrid engines by the manufacturer in 2014, and there’s no doubt he has similar hopes for Ferrari and F1’s new power unit rules in 2026.
For Yamaha, there’s no rollback of regulations to use as a selling point – the current MotoGP formula will run until 2027 – but there are new bases that can and should deliver before then, especially now that Yamaha has more testing and development freedom under the ‘Rank D’ concession status.
Having fallen behind the European MotoGP manufacturers in terms of engine and aero development, Yamaha is making a concerted effort to reverse the trend.
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Its engine is already expected to have taken a significant step forward in terms of peak power – an area Quartararo has been vocally frustrated about for several seasons – under the supervision of former Ferrari F1 engine chief Luca Marmorini.
And while getting it to an acceptable level on the aircraft side will likely be a longer process, it has involved outside help while aggressively recruiting from Ducati in particular.
Jarvis is “hopeful” Yamaha will return to winning ways in short order (2023 was their first winless season in MotoGP since 2003). “However”, he emphasizes, “I am also a realist.
“And we know the level of Ducati in particular; let’s be honest, it’s a very high level at the moment, without a doubt the leader, and eight ultra-competitive riders. So it’s not easy.
“But we have to get back to frequent podiums, I think we can win some races. Winning the championship, in my opinion, is a big effort. But it’s the beginning of a process.
“It took us time to get away and become less competitive, it will take us time to come back. But we will give our maximum and best efforts to do so.
“It will be very difficult to beat the Reds this year, in my opinion.”
The download of Quartararo
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Quartararo – who knows Hamilton well – said with a laugh of the Jarvis comparison when asked by The Race: “Lewis just left, so…”
The reliably outspoken Frenchman has been open about the prospect of moving away from Yamaha if he doesn’t improve at the rate he expects to see – but his tone has seemingly softened seeing what Yamaha is up to.
“The season hasn’t started yet… We have to be smart. I’m 100% focused on the job,” he said.
“I think they [Yamaha] they take a big step compared to previous years.
“Of course for the future, for my future, I will have to take my time. It will be a very important move, I would say.”
Rider buying frenzy
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Hamilton’s Ferrari announcement has breathed life into an F1 driver market that has barely moved over the past 12 months or so – with no grid changes between the final race of the 2023 season and the 2024 entry list, and many of the top drivers already signed up to 2025 and beyond.
MotoGP’s silly season, meanwhile, doesn’t need a jolt – not for a 2024 season that includes Marc Marquez’s much-hyped switch to a satellite Ducati, nor for 2025 when the vast majority of contracts on the grid expire.
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Jarvis, who has not only Quartararo but new team-mate Alex Rins on an expiring contract and also has to find a new satellite team after Yamaha lost first Tech3 and then Petronas SRT/RNF, is in for a chaotic time .
“It’s funny because the other day in an interview I was talking about the number of riders who were or weren’t under contract and then I thought, ‘Am I right? Let me think about it.”
“And what I calculated this morning is that 18 pilots are out of contract [for 2025].
“There are four that do – which I think it is [Brad] Binder, I guess [Pedro] Acosta [officially on a one-year deal, but presumably with options at KTM that are bound to be taken up], [Johann] Zarko, [Luca] Marina.
“So it will be extremely exciting on the track to watch the races and it will be very complicated off the track.
“Because you also have satellite teams, there are three satellite teams without contracts signed today for 2025, which are obviously Pramac and LCR and VR46, and then you have 18 or 19 riders without contracts for next year.”