Fabio Quartararo su꧃pposedly had more opti♏ons on the table than just Yamaha and Aprilia.

The 2021 MotoGP champ𝓰ion chose to sign a new contract tying him to Yamaha for at least two𒁏 more seasons, making him the highest-paid rider on the grid.

The interest from Aprilia has been documented butꦜ Quartararo and his agent have now revealed that other options were on the table.

Tom Maubant, Quartararo’s agentಞ, told TN💎T Sports in Le Mans: “Now I can tell you. It’s okay.

“I had offers from more or less everybody.

“At the end, Fabio knew since the beginning he wants to contin൲ue with Yamaha.

“What we saw in the𓃲 test in Sepang, th💦e improvement…

“The choice was easy.

“[Yamaha] showe🐠d a lot of interest to keep him, to secure him in the team. He will not forget this.”

Quartara𓆉ro added: “Of course I had🍬 to look at all the manufacturers.

“I ha🍷d really nice offers from other manufacturers.

“But, the way [Yamaha] invested into the project. “They gave me the opportunity t🌳o💛 be a MotoGP rider.

“We won races and championships together.

“We were at the top. We are clearly 🀅at the bottom now.

“Also, my ego - I want to come back with them.”

His agent ad🅘ded: “We are guys lik꧙e this. We will never forget what you did for us in the past.

“We know Yamaha is one of the🅺 biggest brains in✨ the motorcycle world.

“We know the people in the team ꧒are pushing a lot.

“We know the🧔y will come back sooner or later, for su✤re.

💦“Yamaha is our family. Even i🍃n bad times we enjoy it because we love everybody there.

“Even if Fabio is 🌄angry after the race, because he is honest, when he arriv𓄧es in the box he is amazing.”

Quartararo explained why he chose to stay despite Yamaha’s underperformance: “It was aꦛ number of thin🔯gs.

“It was not any promise. Just facts that I see.

“From♒ the new people arriving last year whenꦜ I asked what was the problem.

“From the first test in Sepang with the new enginee𒊎rs, when I asked how we can resolve it, or what 🅠was the problem, we clearly had answers.

“This was something that made me c🅠hange with understanding the project.

“Max Bartolini came, the first mღeeting with him I asked thousands of questions about how it’s going in the red box.

“He could tell us everything. 🐷For the experience of Yamaha, it is g🌃reat.

“That was a big reason for me to stay.”

Asked if he has imposed a deadline on Yamaha to see improvements, Q👍uartararo answered: “I don’t want to be super in a r💦ush. I believe in the project.

“The project is until the end of 2026.

“I want to be ready as soon as possible 🅰but♏ it’s a long project.

“It will be better at the end of this year.”

Quartararo: Yamaha ‘totally forgot our strong point’

Quartararo listed the many issues he ℱfaces with his M1.

Crucially🧸, he admitted that Yamah🌞a have lost their big advantage in turning due to their pursuit in improving other areas.

“Braking, we miss the rear grip,” he began.

“We are m🅺issing the stopping performance. We are missing the tuꦅrning. We are missing grip on acceleration.

“A lot of things, but clearly one is the tur🤪ning. “The strong point for Yamaha in the past 🍰was the turning.

“We totally forgo꧑t this strong point and we need to coꦰme back.

“We improve🥃d slightly on the power but lost all the rest. We have to understand wh🔴y.

“We will get them a📖gain, and we will be competitive.”

Quartararo has finished no higher than P7 in any of the five grands prix this season♌.

He crashed out of his home race, t✱he French MotoGP, last weekend while inside the top six. It represented a positive, to be so c♌ompetitive.

Quartararo explained his changing mentali🃏ty with a sub-par bike: “It’s difficult because, as a winner and an athlete, the mind-set is different. “We know that we are struggling a lot with our bike.

“We are on ✤the way. It’s difficult because we c꧙an’t arrive to a track and say ‘we are going to fight to win or for the podium’.

“The job we are doing now is important for our fu🌠ture.

“It’ꦰs important to stay calm and not thi🌜nk about the result.

“🤡Yamaha understand a lot how, in the last years of MotoGP, how the sport has changed.

“We were 🌳stuck for three years. They understand now that we have to work in a completely different way.

“I can see, from the end o൲f December, that Yamaha has totally changed.

“But when you hav🤪e basically the same bike for three years? And you try to change everything?

“Of course we were lost. Now we ✅🌱are trying to find our way.

“T𝓡he new engineers, the new mentality, the new way of working is completely dif🍃ferent.

“We w🃏ill arrive. But not in one week or three months. We need a lot of time.

“I believe a lot in the Yamaha project.

“This is the reason why I re-signed with Yamaha.”