Yamaha's future is sealed, the V4 engine will take the place of the historic inline-4 as early as 2026 - the last year of the 1000 cc MotoGP - to make way for the 850 cc 'little brother' in 2027, when the technical regulations of the premier class will change. Official confirmation from Iwata has not yet arrived, but test rider Augusto Fernandez in Malaysia explained that they "no longer plan to test with the inline-4."
At Iwata, they decided on the revolution less than two years ago and put the new M1 on the track in record time: in early 2025 the first track tests and in the San Marino GP the race debut. In recent months, the riders have also been able to test it, and the most critical has been Quartararo. "New bike, old problems," one could summarize his opinion after the Misano tests. One can understand that, because Fabio is a thoroughbred champion rider and has been waiting (for too long) for a bike that will allow him to win again.
Reasoning with his head instead of his heart, however, it is understandable that the M1 V4 cannot yet be at the level of the current bike. In fact, it would be strange otherwise. Also because the Yamaha with the inline-4 is not slow by any means, quite the contrary. With it this year, Quartararo has taken five pole positions and in the ranking of the best riders in qualifying he is behind only the two Marquez brothers. The problems come in the race, because against the V4s he cannot exploit his strengths in battles and therefore suffers.
Yamaha wanted to align itself with its rivals in order to be able to fight on a level playing field, but the road is a long and difficult one. Fernandez's results in the two wild-card races in the San Marino and Malaysian Grand Prix demonstrate this. When you bring a lab bike to the race, the results don't count and so you have to look at the numbers, the gap numbers.
You can't say that the V4 in Misano got off to a bad start, in qualifying Augusto was 1.331s from pole and just over a second from Quartararo, but on a track where gaps are historically limited. In the races, the limits of a fledgling project were seen. In the Sprint the gap from the first was almost half a minute and exceeded a minute in the GP. The difference from the best Yamaha on Saturday was contained to just over 11 seconds, but Quartararo crashed and so the nearly 41s gap on Sunday is far more realistic.
Misano was useful to understand where to work, but from then until Sepang Fernandez had no more tests. In Malaysia he found a deeply changed bike with no base. "Usually you make changes in the order of millimeters, we work on centimeters. Every time I enter the track I have to understand how to ride again," he explained during the last weekend.
Sepang is a big track and in qualifying the gaps are almost double those of Misano. In the races, however, overall the V4 performed better. It was still far away from Quartararo and the top, but the numbers certify some steps forward.
The problem, however, is that it is difficult to evaluate the performance of the new M1, because the engineers decided to 'castrate' the engine. These two wild cards were essential to gather as much data as possible, so the decision was made to remove horsepower so as not to take any risks with reliability.
Again, it's what's written black on white that counts. Fernandez at Misano was last in top speeds, but all in line with the Yamahas with the inline-4. The difference from the best (Oliveira) was just 4.1 kph, while the difference from the fastest (Bezzecchi on the Aprilia) touched 10 kph.
Sepang, however, was a different story. It is a circuit with long straights where muscles are also needed in acceleration, and in fact Augusto paid for it more. Miller touched 336.4 kph, Fernandez stopped at 329.2.
The tester did not seem very convinced about the choice to cut the power: "it would be the right moment to give it back, also to understand how the bike behaves at full power." Because a 'depowered' engine changes its character. He still had to put on a good face.
At Valencia he will be racing again (and first he will have a test in Aragon), then the ball will be in the official riders' court. The winter will be decisive to have any hope in 2026. Yamaha's gamble is a risky one and it can't afford to lose it.