Fabio Quartararo says he “was ready to ꦑleave” Yamaha at♔ the end of the 2024 MotoGP season due to the Japanese brand’s dip in form.

The Fren🌞ch rider made his MotoGP debut with Yamah♕a in 2019 at Petronas SRT before moving to its factory team in 2021, when he won the title.

Quartararo then went from battling for a second championship in 2022 to not even winning a race in 2023, while Yamaha is yet to score a podium this season - with a third in the Jerez sprint stripped from the Frenchman𒆙 over a tyre pressure penalty.

The🍃 2021 world champion was a key figure in the 2025 rider market, with the Frenchman seriously considering an offer from Aprilia before accepting a big money two-year deal to remain at Yamaha.

In a YouTube interview with ‘Legend’, Quartar🦩aro revealed: “Yamaha is a legendary team.

“My dream, when I was little, was to go there bec𝓀ause Valentino Rossi&🐓nbsp;was there.

“I was ready to leave this brand; even thouꦉgh it was my dream team, I felt ready to leave.

“And Yamaha made some very big changes. They have made a big investment in the project, 🦄hiring a lot of new engineers .

“Even for the bra🐬nd, for Yamaha, i♎t is not good to be so far behind in its market.

“Unfortunately, you can't get back to the top in [a few] weeꦦks or months; I think it's more like years.

“That's what made me 𝄹take the decision to stay at Yamaha, seeing meetings with people who came from other brands, who were working on very big projects .

“That's what made me take the step of 💎rene꧑wing with Yamaha for the next two years.”

The arrival of Max Bartolini from Ducati as te🌸chnical director at Yamaha was a major fact🦩or in Quartararo remaining with the Japanese marque.

Over the course of the 2024 campaign, Yamaha has utilised its concession benefit🦄s to conduct numerous in-season tests and introduce a raft of new items - stepping away from the more cautious approach it has had previously.

That is now extending as far as Yamaha ditc🍃hing its inline-four engine philosophy for a V4 for 2025.

While there has been slow progres🐠s for Yamaha in 2024, Quartararo admits the Japanese marque’s decline in form since 2022 did take a toll on him.

“I've had problems with the bike and al🌱so mental problems, I think,” he added.

“In the end, when you spend four years fighting for the title and one year you finish tenth, it's s💝🔥trange.

“It even makes you doubt you💞rself, thinking, 'is i🌌t me, what's happening?’

“In the last two years, we🎀 haven't improved at all, and the others have made a big step forward.

“At the moment, we're still behind, but I think&n🍃bsp;I've learned a lot about staying calm and above all [trying] to make the bike evolve in the best way ꧑possible.

“But it's true that mentally it wasn't easy.”