Yamaha’s MotoGP performance in 2025 has been one of its most difficult in years, yet Fabio Quartararo continues to stand out with performances far beyond his team-mates. Quartararo has been able to push the underpowered M1 to results no other Yamaha rider has come close to matching.

Alex Rins recently revealed the key difference: braking. According to Rins, Quartararo can delay braking by as much as 20 metres compared with the rest of the Yamaha riders, giving him a massive advantage of around 0.8s per lap.

The impact is clear in the numbers. Quartararo has secured four pole positions, started on the front row in half of the races and finished on the podium twice this season. He has also been the only Yamaha rider to stay consistently inside the top 10 on Sunday, collecting 137 points so far, more than Rins, Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira combined.

Rins has admitted that his own weak point is qualifying, especially when using the soft tyre. He has only managed to reach Q2 four times this year, leaving him to start races too far down the order.

“Fabio is braking later than me and later than Miller and Oliveira too,” Rins explained after the Misano sprint to MotoGP.com. “That’s where he finds the time. If you qualify 17th, it’s very hard to fight in the race.”

Oliveira, who is set to leave Pramac at the end of the year, agreed that qualifying is holding him back. Oliveira has never reached Q2 in 2025 under normal circumstances, though he started 11th at the German Grand Prix when two rivals withdrew.

“My natural place with this bike is between 13th and 10th,” Oliveira said to MotoGP.com. “At some circuits I can break into the top ten. My race pace is close to Fabio’s, so if I can qualify better, I believe I can fight much higher.”

Miller has slightly better results but still sits far behind Quartararo in points. For now, Yamaha’s hopes rest mostly on Quartararo, whose ability to maximise braking and find lap time continues to set him apart from the rest of the team.

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