Fabio Quartararo will debut a new engine at the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix, which he described as “clearly, clearly better” during tests. Under concession rules, Yamaha has aggressively updated its M1 throughout 2024, with the latest engine aiming to boost Quartararo’s performance this weekend.
“It’s difficult to expect something now when you arrive to a track,” Quartararo told media at Sepang.
“In the past, we used to know more or less: ‘this one is a good one, this one not so good’. But now we have no idea, and the thing is we have new things to try this weekend. We have a new engine.”
He also mentioned plans to test new electronic configurations and experiment with his riding style, saying, “We will make quite a big change on the electronics. Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s bad – I don’t know.”
Quartararo reported brief testing issues with the electronics but said Alex Rins’ test showed the engine was “clearly, clearly better.”
This upgrade is expected to deliver more power than previous engines. “Hopefully this one is more powerful,” he noted, though his own trial didn’t reveal much due to technical issues.
Reflecting on Yamaha’s season, Quartararo said recent races have shown improvement.
“In all of the Asian tour and the last races, the result was not super, super good but we always had some positives,” he said, referencing a strong pace in Thailand and improvement in wet conditions.
“So, I think we made some steps. But, like I said, we’re still slow, and the other ones are making steps.”