Why future options for MotoGP's recent champions are scarce

In pre-pandemic circumstances, both Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo would be rubbing their hands together right now. Their agents would be able to use the 2020 and 2021 MotoGP world titles as leverage for their next contracts and, depending on the options available, sign for the most attractive proposal.

The problem for both is that the current market situation does not favour an aggressive strategy at the moment. The lack of potential options for them to move to, the very specific policies employed by other manufacturers such as Ducati and Honda and the status that Quartararo and Mir have earned play in the favour of Yamaha and Suzuki, as their respective managers are aware of. As a result, neither the Iwata (Yamaha) nor Hamamatsu (Suzuki) brands seem overly concerned that their spearheads could jump ship.

Last week Autosport explained the salary cut that will materialise in the 2022 grid, which equates to around 20% compared to 2018. Neither Quartararo nor Mir live on the fringes of this slump, although there are some differences between the two cases that are worth analysing in depth, starting with newly-crowned Yamaha rider Quartararo.

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Not even a week after celebrating his debut as champion in the premier class, Quartararo left the first pre-season test at Jerez with more doubts than certainties about the M1 Yamaha had put on track. With a few details still to be worked out, that was to be the basis of the bike with which he would try to retain the title in 2022.

"It's still too early to sign, I don't want to sign anything before at least going to Malaysia," Quartararo remarked, before sending a very clear message to the executives. "I prefer to see the evolution of our bike first, I think that's normal. What is not normal is to sign for 2023 without having started 2022.

"I know what I want. I will wait a little bit to see how the Yamaha goes, its evolution in Sepang. If I see Yamaha going in a totally different direction, that could affect my future here."

Quartararo joined the factory Yamaha team in 2021, but the contract that took him there was finalised in early 2020. That year, the Frenchman was in his second season under the Sepang Racing Team (SRT) stable, although his status was already almost identical to that of then-factory riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales.

Quartararo had a base salary of around 2.5 million euros to be supplemented by variables, depending on the results obtained. In 2021, with five victories and the title as a crowning achievement, the new champion has pocketed around four million euros. But that still represents a real bargain for the Japanese manufacturer, which in just three years will have gone from spending around twelve million euros between Rossi and Vinales, to around 5.5 million, with Franco Morbidelli on around one and a half million euros.

Quartararo is due a pay rise from Yamaha - which is unlikely to be matched by any rival manufacturers

Photo by: Yamaha

Yamaha is aware of the need to reward its number one rider, his current deal well below the status he has earned. Quartararo's renewal offer is likely to be in the region of seven million euros, bonuses aside. As is always the case when the fixed amount is increased, the emoluments derived from the performance of the riders decrease, so that the amount does not skyrocket in case the successes do.

As the grid currently stands, and considering the needs of the different teams without neglecting their real possibilities, nobody outside Yamaha will pay Quartararo that much - essentially because nobody has that urgency. The same goes for Mir and Suzuki, from whom the Spaniard receives just over seven million euros after the world championship he took in 2020 set that amount as the basis for the following seasons.

To understand the context, it is essential to widen the focus and look for what Quartararo and Mir's representatives could use as a pressure measure. Therein lies the main stumbling block: the scarcity of teams willing to pay what their representatives believe they deserve.

However unwell Marquez may be, Honda will remain devoted to the rider who has helped him to the last six of its premier class titles out of the nine that have been up for grabs since 2013. It is difficult to believe that Honda could go for Quartararo, for several reasons

Aprilia and KTM's first priority is to optimise their bikes, before worrying about finding a front-runner who will allow them to compete for the biggest prize on two wheels. Ducati, on the other hand, has implemented a brutal salary reduction policy since the departure of Andrea Dovizioso in 2020, to the point of having covered the salaries of its five riders on the payroll (Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Jorge Martin, Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini), for less than 3.5 million euros in total.

PLUS: How Ducati's expanded roster will threaten MotoGP's balance in 2022

"As far as riders are concerned we are covered; we don't need to go to the market,"  the Borgo Panigale firm's sporting director Paolo Ciabatti told Autosport. "Pecco [Bagnaia] has shown that he can challenge for the title, hopefully Jack will also be in the fight, and we have a lot of young talent with Martin and Bastianini.

Albert Valera, agent of several of MotoGP's biggest diamonds including Martin himself and Moto3 superstar Pedroa Acosta, noted: "Ducati will hardly pay the salary that Joan and Fabio will want to receive, because they don't need it. I think that in Bologna they are aware of the need to update several of their riders' contracts, which are well below what they should be. But in no case so much as to reach what Quartararo and Mir should ask for."

The situation at Honda, the other major company that could take them in, is different, as are its current priorities. The company's hierarchy is still waiting to gauge the performance that Marc Marquez will be able to offer when he gets back on the bike, starting with this weekend's Sepang test.

Despite Quartararo's title-winning pedigree, Honda's loyalty still lies with Marquez

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Honda is only interested in knowing how its multi-champion and flagship rider will evolve after the two injuries he has sustained in the last year; the first in his right arm, which kept him away from the circuits for nine months, and the second in his right eye, which prevented him from taking part in the last two races of last year's calendar and in the Jerez November tests.

However unwell Marquez may be, Honda will remain devoted to the man who has helped it to secure the last six of its premier class titles, from the nine that have been up for grabs since 2013. It is difficult to believe that Honda could go for Quartararo, for several reasons.

Firstly, because with Marquez in a position to win races - in 2021 he took three without being at his best - Pol Espargaro is a good fit as his garage neighbour, even if his results have so far been more discreet than expected. Then there is the lack of guarantee that the Frenchman can offer his best performances with the very particular RC213V, given its obvious differences with the Yamaha. And finally, there is the economic aspect.

Mir's case is similar, although at Honda there is more conviction that he has what it takes to give his best on the Honda. Alberto Puig already tried to convince Mir when he was promoted to MotoGP in 2019, offering him a place in the LCR team, but the Spaniard opted to sign with Suzuki. On the other hand, Mir knows that at HRC he would arrive with the label of 'second rider', while at Suzuki he has earned by his own merits to be seen as the project leader.

"It is normal that Honda is focused on Marc's recovery, even though, as we have seen in recent years, to leave everything to one card can put you in risky situations", summarises Mir's agent Paco Sanchez.

Without saying it explicitly, this representative, one of the most experienced in the paddock who also deals with Remy Gardner, agrees that most probably the best thing for both his client and Quartararo is stay where they are because nobody will offer them what they have.

Mir's agent Paco Sanchez believes he's best served by staying at Suzuki

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images