Viñales joined Yamaha for the 2017 season, having made a splash in his first two years in the premier class with Suzuki, winning his first MotoGP race at Silverstone in 2016.
Signed as the promise of the future who could take the place of Jorge Lorenzo and act as a safeguard for the future of Yamaha once Valentino Rossi hangs up his helmet for good, four and a half years of tension have come to an end in bitter circumstances.
This is a timeline of how the Viñales/Yamaha relationship evolved and deteriorated between 2016 and 2021.
May 19, 2016 – Viñales signs a two-year contract with Yamaha
Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi in 2016
“It is with great pleasure that Yamaha has announced the signing of Maverick Viñales”
On the eve of the 2016 Italian Grand Prix, Yamaha finally announced that they had signed Viñales on a two-year deal from 2017.
Jorge Lorenzo had already signed for Ducati and Viñales had been linked to Yamaha for some time, although the young Spanish rider was deeply divided between joining the official Yamaha squad or staying with Suzuki.
Having been brought into MotoGP in 2015 by Suzuki after just one year in Moto2, Viñales was the most desirable prospect in the paddock in 2016, a status that was only boosted by his first MotoGP podium finish at Le Mans, just two weeks before his signing with Yamaha.
At the time, Viñales said of his deal with Yamaha: “I finally decided to move, go to the Yamaha factory. And I think it’s a really important part of my career, because I’m going to grow a lot.”
“Finally, I am very grateful to Suzuki because they trust me a lot and try to give me the best bike they can. They have done a great job.”
November 16, 2016 – Viñales leads the first official MotoGP test as a Yamaha rider
Maverick Viñales in the Valencia test
The Valencia test at the end of 2016 was the first opportunity the world had to see Maverick Viñales on an official Yamaha.
Although no longer a rookie, Viñales made a huge impression after leading the two-day test in his M1 by 0.196sec over reigning world champion Marc Márquez on the Honda.
First place in testing would become a regular theme for Viñales at Yamaha and having won a grand prix in 2016 at Silverstone, the fact that Viñales came top of the Valencia test on his first outing with the team he did no more than justify Yamaha’s decision to sign him.
March 16, 2017 – Viñales wins on his debut for Yamaha in Qatar
Maverick Viñales at the 2017 Qatar GP
“I felt as strong as the result shows,” said the Spaniard on a difficult opening weekend of the Qatar GP, which had its qualifying canceled due to rain in the desert and lack of drainage.
However, Viñales topped the practice sessions and started his first season with Yamaha strong, earning him pole position, which he would convert to victory on his debut after an intense race with Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso and his teammate. team, Valentino Rossi.
Viñales won the next round in Argentina and beat Rossi in a thrilling French GP in May, taking his third victory in five races.
But his title hopes fell apart throughout the 2017 campaign as the M1 proved to be inconsistent, with Viñales only taking four more podium finishes on his way to third in the standings as Yamaha came to dire straits. to the last round, in which both Viñales and Rossi raced the 2016 version of the M1.
January 24, 2018 – Viñales signs a new two-year contract with Yamaha
Maverick Viñales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“I feel very good within the team.”
Despite his debut season at Yamaha turning from dream to nightmare as the 2017 M1 proved inconsistent, all was well heading into 2018.
In fact, the relationship between the two parties seemed so good that Viñales signed a new two-year contract to cover 2019 and 2020 before the pre-season tests of that 2018 began.
“I feel above all the desire to win, which is something that I identify with and that I want,” Viñales said at the time after signing his new contract.
“We make a good couple and it will be special for both of us.”
“So thanks to Yamaha, because it has made my dreams come true. Let’s see if we can do it again this season.”
The 2018 season, however, would prove even more difficult for Viñales.
October 16, 2018 – The cracks in the relationship between Viñales and Yamaha begin to appear
Maverick Viñales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“For my part, I felt a bit forgotten.”
In the first nine races, Viñales only managed three podium finishes on an M1 that seemed to have taken a step back from its already inconsistent predecessor, all while Tech3’s Johann Zarco was generally stronger than the Yamaha factory pair with his M1 from 2016 in the early rounds.
Viñales attempted to adapt his M1 to the way Zarco rode his, trying a new seat position at the Barcelona test, but found that the 2018 Yamaha did not work with this setup.
The explosion of Yamaha’s 2018 campaign came in Austria, when the Japanese brand publicly apologized to both riders after qualifying 11th and 14th. While Rossi recovered to sixth position, Viñales slipped to 12th position in the race.
Inside Viñales’ garage, his relationship with the chief engineer ( Ramón Forcada ) was deteriorating and frustration boiled over in the latter part of the season, during the Thailand weekend, when Viñales targeted Yamaha’s management for his handling of the situation.
“We have to be patient and wait for Yamaha to be competitive again,” Viñales told Sky Italia .
“I have two more years left on my contract and I have to have faith. Neither [team boss] Lin [Jarvis] nor [team principal Massimo ] Meregalli have managed the current situation in the best way.”
“For my part, I have felt a bit forgotten. It is important to feel that we are a team, and that is something that I have missed. I would have liked to receive a hug at some point, it would have been good.”
“It’s important to give hugs not only when things are going well, but also when things are going bad, to feel a little better.”
Viñales would secure Yamaha’s first victory in over a year in Australia to move up to fourth in the standings, while for 2019 he would be reunited with his Moto3 title-winning crew chief Esteban García .
January 28, 2020 – Viñales signs a new two-year contract with Yamaha
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“There was no reason not to continue with Yamaha,” declared the Spaniard at the time.
The 2019 season started off rocky for Viñales as he continued to struggle with a lack of pace in the first few races on full fuel.
But a win at the Dutch GP – having scored a third in Spain before then – would see him take another victory in Malaysia; having battled to a last lap crash for victory in Australia, ending the year third in the standings.
Over the winter, Viñales received interest from Ducati to join the brand in 2021, but ultimately decided to stay with Yamaha after signing a new two-year deal in early 2020.
Although Viñales was enthusiastic about the new deal in press releases, he admitted earlier in 2021 that a new offer of a two-year deal from Yamaha came as a surprise.
“I think I have a very good relationship with Yamaha Japan ,” Viñales said at Assen in June.
“I think they’re great, with the president, the guys from all these things. They put a lot of enthusiasm and value [into me], so I was pretty … when they signed me back in 2020, I was like ‘what?’ because I couldn’t give my maximum. I told the team that I wasn’t going to give up and I didn’t know why I wasn’t able to give that maximum.”
“And they renewed me again for two more years, and at the point where I am now, I don’t understand why.”
November 22, 2020 – Viñales’ frustrations come with more force
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“It’s been a total disaster, the worst season of my career.”
Despite winning half of the 14 races in the COVID-affected 2020 campaign, last year was a total disaster for Yamaha.
In pre-season he chose to go in a direction with his M1 that Viñales and Fabio Quartararo were unhappy with, something that would haunt the Japanese throughout 2020, through wildly inconsistent performance.
Their performance problems were only hampered when they were forced to withdraw two engines from each driver’s allocation due to the use of illegal valves after the Spanish GP.
As one of the engines broke during the first weekend of the Spanish GP, Viñales would have to complete the season with only two engines, but in the end he had to exceed his allocation in Valencia, which led to a penalty.
To make its engines last, Yamaha had to lower the revs, making an already slow bike even slower in a straight line. Viñales continued to struggle in the opening laps of the races, while a lack of rear grip constantly plagued him.
Viñales has only won once, at the Emilia Romagna GP, when he benefited from a last-minute crash by former leader Francesco Bagnaia, and only managed two more podium finishes before finishing sixth in the standings.
“[I try to keep] something positive inside of me, but obviously it has been a totally disastrous season, the worst of my career,” Viñales said at the end of the year.
“So it’s hard to believe. Anyway, now it’s time to go home, stay calm and it’s the others who have to worry.”
February 15, 2021 – Yamaha shows its support for Viñales
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“I believe in him more than in himself.”
Yamaha made big promises over the winter of 2020/2021 as it went to work rectifying the issues that plagued its 2020 season.
As Viñales began his new contract cycle, there was absolutely no sign of what was to come, with Yamaha management publicly throwing their support behind the Spaniard.
“It’s true that sometimes I see that Maverick has victory in his eyes, but it’s easy for him to lose that fire,” said Team Principal Massimo Meregalli at the Yamaha team presentation.
“And when I say that I feel and that I believe in him more than in himself, it’s because I can see how he deals with the races and also how he can deal with others. Surely we can give him our support to try to help him be more stable in his behavior.”
Viñales even considered that his environment was positive for him, noting: “For sure they can blame me, like sometimes I blame Yamaha. We can because we are not perfect in every race and every day.”
“For me, it means everything that the team that I have has my back, pushes me, supports me, this is what I really need to give my full potential to bring out all my talent.”
But those positive feelings would not last long.
June 3, 2021 – Crew chief change begins Viñales’ path to his departure from Yamaha
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“Saying ‘goodbye’ to one of our teammates is always a sad moment.”
On the eve of the Catalan Grand Prix in June, Yamaha announced that it had swapped Viñales crew chief Esteban García for his former ally with Rossi, Silvano Galbusera .
After an emphatic victory on the opening night of the season in Qatar, possibly his best race, Viñales’ form dropped in the following rounds and he did not come close to the podium, while his teammate (Quartararo) won three times.
Viñales’ old problems of lack of rear grip in racing materialized again and Yamaha tried to help him by bringing in Galbusera.
Although this move was said to be by mutual agreement, it is understood that the replacement of García – a close friend of Viñales – only increased the tension in the Yamaha garage between the team management and the Spaniard.
Viñales finished the Catalan GP in fifth position, but the worst was yet to come.
June 20, 2021 – Viñales attacks Yamaha after the worst weekend in its history in Germany
Maverick Viñales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“This is starting to look like disrespect,” he said.
While Quartararo battled for the front row and finished on the podium in Germany, Viñales reached a career low by qualifying 21st and finishing the race 19th and last.
Viñales was at a loss to explain the rear grip problems that plagued him once again, and stuck the knife in Yamaha for the answer to his problems, pointing out that no one had been able to offer him any solutions.
“Each driver has to have his own set-up, it can’t be that I’ve been using my rival’s set-up for two years,” he said.
“Each driver has their style and every day they are teaching me how to ride: to grab the brake, release the brake, open the throttle, close the throttle.”
“I have to be patient, I don’t want to use Fabio’s setup because I don’t drive like him and that doesn’t work for me. I’m not here to take data or to be a test driver. This is starting to look disrespectful.”
“It’s a constant ‘I don’t know’ [from the team]. What frustrates me the most is not having answers as to why I don’t have grip,” he said.
Jun 27, 2021 – Exit rumors surface as Viñales returns to the Assen podium
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“I sure have given up many times.”
Before the Dutch GP, Viñales admitted that the situation within Yamaha in 2021 led him to “give up many times” as the answers to his problems never came.
Stating after Germany that he would use Quartararo’s set-up at Assen, Viñales topped the standings and finished second behind his team-mate on a bike he says was unchanged compared to the M1 he rode the week before in Germany.
Ahead of Sunday’s race, Viñales was linked with a surprise move to Aprilia for 2022 as he looked to break his current contract with Yamaha a year early. After his misfortune in Germany, it is understood that there was no guarantee that Viñales would line up on the grid at Assen.
Viñales rejected these rumours, but after the Assen race at the parc ferme , on the podium and in the image of the Yamaha team, it was clear that the relationship between both parties had irretrievably deteriorated.
Viñales’ celebrations were muted, he refused to cuddle with Yamaha boss Meregalli , and in the post-race team photo he sat on top of his M1 with a gruff expression on his face, while sunglasses covered him. the eyes.
June 28, 2021 – Viñales leaves Yamaha
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“With sadness, we will say goodbye to Maverick”
Despite debunked rumors over the Assen weekend, on the Monday after the race Yamaha announced that it would terminate Viñales’ contract one season earlier than planned.
What was significant about this announcement was the fact that it was mentioned that this decision was made at the request of the pilot himself.
The dialogue expressed in the official press release was cordial and respectful, which contrasts with some of the words used by Viñales before the announcement.
However, this would not be the end of the story, as it would take an unexpected turn at Red Bull Ring.
August 12, 2021 – Viñales is suspended by Yamaha
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
Hopes for a peaceful end to the relationship between Viñales and Yamaha faded between the Styrian and Austrian GPs.
On the Thursday before the Austrian GP, Yamaha announced that it had suspended Viñales and withdrawn him from the second race at the Red Bull Ring for what it called an “unexplained irregular performance of the bike” during the Styrian GP.
Vinales attempted to deliberately damage the engine of his M1 in the final laps of the Styrian race by over-accelerating knowing there was a problem, something that was caught on telemetry and by Dorna Sports cameras.
All this happened while Viñales was struggling with various setbacks from the beginning of the race. Following a red flag for an incident between Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo Savadori, Viñales was forced to restart the event from pit lane when his bike stalled on the grid.
From there, Viñales was unable to come back and finally ended up in the pits. On the Saturday of the Austrian GP, Viñales publicly apologized to Yamaha for his actions, blaming them on growing frustration with the situation in the race and in general.
But the damage was done.
August 18, 2021 – Viñales, on the bench at Silverstone
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
As revealed by Motorsport.com, Yamaha would not allow Viñales to race in next weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Following his suspension ahead of the Austrian GP, Yamaha said it would decide on Viñales’ future participation after further talks.
At the time of the Motorsport.com news, it was only certain that Viñales – who has now signed with Aprilia for 2022 – would not race at Silverstone, with Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow taking his place.
August 20, 2021 – Yamaha fires Viñales effective immediately
Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing
“A ‘mutual’ decision has been reached.”
On Friday, Yamaha announced it was parting ways with Viñales with immediate effect, ending the Spaniard’s spell with the Japanese brand under dire circumstances.
Yamaha stated in its statement that the decision to end its association with Viñales was “mutual”, but the reality is rather that Yamaha no longer trusts the rider to fulfill his obligations until the end of the season after what happened. at the Styrian GP.
Viñales is now free to do as he pleases, which could mean riding an Aprilia in 2021 before his 2022 contract begins if the Italian brand so desires.
Yamaha has not yet determined who will replace Viñales for the final rounds. Although test pilot Crutchlow is the official reserve, his contract stipulates that he can decline replacement offers if he doesn’t want to make them.
Signed by Yamaha in 2016 as their future star and heir to Rossi’s throne in the team, the irony of this entire saga is that Rossi has outlasted Viñaales at Yamaha, even as his retirement nears.
