Fabio Quartararo says Yamaha have still not fixed V4 bike problems he first raised six months ago

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Fabio Quartararo didn’t hold back in his criticism of Yamaha’s V4 project during the opening day of practice at the Spanish Grand Prix, once again making it clear he feels the team has done little to address issues he first brought up more than six months ago.

The gap between Yamaha’s 2026 prototype and the rest of the field was clear again in Jerez, with all five factory riders missing out on Q2 during the pre-practice qualifying session.

Quartararo was best placed among them in P17, while Toprak Razgatlioglu continued to show promise even though he posted only the 18th fastest time. To try to get a better handle on their struggles, Yamaha entered Augusto Fernandez as a wildcard for this round.

He ended up at the bottom of the timesheets, while Jack Miller and Alex Rins finished just ahead in P20 and P21.

Fabio Quartararo hits out at Yamaha over unresolved issues dating back to September

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Fabio Quartararo has hit out at Yamaha following a tough day of practice in Jerez, expressing frustration that the team still hasn’t fixed problems he flagged more than half a year ago.

Speaking to reporters after the session, as quoted by GPOne, Quartararo didn’t hold back:

“The reality is what you see. Being a second off our best time means we’re struggling. But we have to get used to this situation.

“Obviously, when we arrive at the track on Thursday, we want to be competitive and motivated to aim for a good result, but the truth is that we’re far away. The temperature is cooler now than last year, so we should be faster. Instead, we’re way off the pace.

“We need speed, but here in Jerez, that’s the least of our problems. Right now, more than speed, we need a bike that turns, has grip, stops well and gives us confidence in the front. These are things I’ve been asking for since September. The fact is, we haven’t found anything.”