Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli have endured a very difficult 2023 season as only two podꦬium finishes have been achieved, both by Quartararo. 

One-lap pace, which had always been a s🍸trength for Quartararo, has been lacking compared to riders from other brands, while the ability to overtake has also been very challenging for himself𒅌 and Morbidelli. 

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Small improvements were made from Yamaha with its current bike compared to last year, however, it’s clear that not enou🐽gh has been done to bring them back into contention against the li🦂kes of Ducati, Aprilia and KTM.

And with 2024 set to be a crucial year for Quartararo, but more so for Yamaha as they look to keep the Frencꦜhman happy, delivering a better bike is a must, especially after Meregalli admitted they have extracted 📖the most from this year’s bike with six races to go.

“We won’t give up,”🐈 Meregalli told MotoGP.com. “We𝄹 will keep working and pushing as much as we can. It’s definitely been a tough season and we are not where we would like to be. 

“The differences compared to a few ye🀅ars ago arꦑe more and more competitive. Now we are guided by them. 

“Some to🌜pics we are [still] learning and it takes time to learn. It will take time to close the gap in a short time. During the winter we imp💦roved the top speed and reduced the drag. 

“But then the increased downforcꦉe meant the bike was not turning anymore. Sometimes we discovered that i༺t was not about downforce but about something else. 

🐻“It looks like we have now reached the best [potential] from the current bike. We need to make a step further. In Misano, the main item was the new engine. 

“Everybody is looking for more power. We achieved t🍰he expectation that we had from the beginning.”

One area where Yamaha did clearly improve their bike was the engine as top speed has been much better relative to their rivals🃏, although not enough to make them stronger.

♑But that said, more is needed in that area as test rider Cal C💃rutchlow has been very vocal about the traits the current engine has.

“The engine is not compleဣtely what we’re looking for,” said Cructhlow. “But in one way the engine is smoother which iꦍs the direction I believe we need to go in. 

Meregalli went a step further by saying: “Since Cal joined us he has always complained about the aggresitivity of the engine. Then Fabio started complaining about this and those comme🐬nts are guiding our development.”