How Yamaha's MotoGP engine woes haunted it in Portugal

There was a collective sigh of release from the MotoGP paddock - both on site and at home - when the chequered flag fell on the Portuguese Grand Prix, bringing to an end the series' wildest campaign in memory.

A punishing scheduled of 14 races in 18 weeks beginning on 19 July courtesy of the delays forced by the coronavirus took its toll on all, but the journey was one all are grateful to have been able to take.

Sunday's Portugal conclusion was also the finale to many fascinating sub plots which make up this incredible MotoGP world championship. Pramac's Jack Miller preceded his factory Ducati switch in 2021 by securing it the constructors' championship with second in the race; Andrea Dovizioso signed off his career (for now) more pleased with his achievements than some at Ducati, allegedly; Valentino Rossi said goodbye to his factory Yamaha team while Cal Crutchlow bid his full-time racing career farewell.

As far as finales go for Suzuki, it was akin to Game of Thrones' final episode: a stunningly disappointing low off the back of an immense high, as world champion Joan Mir retired on lap 16 with an electrical issue - the result of early contact - while Alex Rins faded to 15th thanks to an incorrect tyre choice.

In itself, Suzuki's difficult afternoon at the Algarve Circuit created a deceptively bitter end to a strangely tough year for Yamaha. It was strange, because Yamaha has won seven of the 14 races courtesy of Fabio Quartararo, Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales but ends the year without the title.

Quartararo's miserable recent run was typified in Portugal when arm pump dropped him to 14th, which meant he tumbled to eighth in the standings having led them just five rounds ago. Vinales ended up the lead 2020 Yamaha in the standings after a fun run to 11th to cap off his "worst season" in MotoGP.

Rins' difficult race cleared a path for Morbidelli to guide his 'A-spec' 2019 hybrid M1 to runner-up spot in the standings despite losing out to Miller on the final lap in their battle for second in the race behind runaway winner Miguel Oliveira on the Tech3 KTM.

"I'm more happy about the second place in the championship than the place lost at last lap," Morbidelli admitted on Sunday. "Jack was very good, very strong, especially at the end, he was stronger than me, he was clever. He was able to overtake me and he didn't give me the chance to retaliate. So, huge congratulations to him and also Miguel, who was untouchable today.

"I tried it in the beginning just to see if I was able to stay close to him but I wasn't. I realised in the beginning quite soon that I wasn't able to stay with him. Then I tried to just push at 200%, tried to risk a lot anyway because I wanted to make a podium finish in the last race of the championship and finally we did it, huge congratulations to the team, huge thanks to Yamaha as well, which supplied me with the good package."

Morbidelli's not one for mudslinging, though on a few occasions this year he would be well within his right - particularly after Sunday's race. Runner-up spot in the championship is a fine result for a rider who rallied in a big way following his 'butt-kicking', as he told Autosport back in September, from Petronas SRT team-mate Quartararo in 2019.

PLUS: How a 'butt-kicking' shaped one of MotoGP's latest winners

With Mir not finishing the race, Morbidelli ends the year just 13 points behind the Suzuki rider in the standings. A top result on paper, but peel away the stitches and you begin to see it will be one that hurts.

"I don't feel underestimated - I just know that in Yamaha there are three strong riders and the choice to whom to give what is very difficult, because all the riders in Yamaha are very, very strong" Franco Morbidelli

Yamaha's illegal engines from the Spanish GP weekend has been a well-documented error of judgement on the Japanese marque's part, criticised within its own ranks from several of its riders - most vocally Vinales. Not only did it ultimately cost Yamaha a better chance at the constructors' championship, it forced it to withdraw two engines from each rider's allocation for the season - leaving them with just three to cover the 13 remaining rounds, while Vinales had just two owing to a technical issue in one.

And the real kicker has come from the fragility of Yamaha's engines in general, necessitating the marque to lower revs for the rest of the season. Thirteen points is the take from a fourth-place finish in MotoGP. Morbidelli had moved into fourth place on his SRT M1 back at the Andalusian GP and was looking nailed on for a podium when his engine expired on lap 17 of 25. Had Morbidelli's engine lasted the distance and he'd at least scored fourth, he'd have ended the year equal on points with Mir - but his three race victories to Mir's one would have netted him the championship.

Of course, championships aren't won on ifs and buts, and you could argue there's no guarantee Morbidelli would have made it to the finish in that Jerez race. But he only made one race-ending mistake in 2020, crashing out of the wet French GP (where all championship challengers struggled). The collision with Johann Zarco in the Austrian GP wasn't Morbidelli's fault, while the horrifying nature of that accident understandably rattled him in the following Styrian GP, where he was 15th.

Yamaha managed the situation with its engines as well as it could, with Morbidelli reaching the end of the year on a motor with well over 1500 miles on it. But top speed remained an issue, while rideability for the 2020 Yamahas was lacking. The COVID-19 enforced development freeze on engines has come at the worst possible moment for Yamaha.

While a question mark hangs over its weary factory duo in Vinales and Quartararo, Yamaha can at least rely on Morbidelli much more assure of his abilities next year. That its top rider will still remain on his older 'A-spec' bike, having had the 2020 bike he was meant to ride taken from him in the winter, is somewhat baffling.

"Yeah, I don't feel... I don't feel underestimated," he said when asked by Autosport if he felt underrated. "I just know that in Yamaha there are three strong riders and the choice to whom to give what is very difficult, because all the riders in Yamaha are very, very strong, so I didn't feel like I'm underestimated.

"I just had the lowest, maybe, rating, inside Yamaha's understanding, let's say. Yeah, I hope that this championship will make my rating and level grow inside Yamaha's judgement. That's what I hope. But I didn't feel underestimated. No, it's just that in Yamaha there is a great rivalry and a great level between the riders. All riders in Yamaha are super, super strong. Valentino [Rossi] has a huge experience and he's super good in riding and setting up the bike.

"Fabio is super-fast and Maverick as well is super-fast. So, it's a great battle between the riders because these riders are very strong. I didn't feel underestimated, I just felt... yeah, maybe the last one [within the marque] but that's OK."

So, in true 2020 fashion, the rider 'rated lowest' within Yamaha's ranks was the one who brought it to the brink of a championship its own mistakes ultimately denied it.

It's clear Yamaha has a long winter ahead of it to right its troubled 2020 challenger. But it must also question its decision not to upgrade the machinery its only true title hopeful this year will be riding in 2021.