Why the Vinales/Yamaha MotoGP divorce satisfies both parties

The tension between Maverick Vinales and Yamaha has been growing, to the point that both the rider and the brand concluded that the best way to resolve the conflict was to end their relationship a year before his contract was due to expire in 2022.

Although the outcome was precipitated this past weekend at Assen, the tension between the two sides had been dragging on for some time. Indeed, the previous Sunday, after finishing last in the German Grand Prix, Vinales' frontal attack on Yamaha had caused the Japanese manufacturer's officials to doubt whether their rider would even ride in the Dutch TT. "After Sachsenring, the truth is that I had little desire to come here," Vinales said at Assen.

PLUS: Why Yamaha is at risk of losing Rossi

At Assen, the dynamics on a strictly sporting level were very different, something that the Spaniard could already sense from the profile of the circuit, one of his favourites and where he already won in 2019. He was fastest in the first three free practice sessions and second in the fourth, before claiming his first pole position of the season with a new lap record.

On Sunday, he finished second, hampered by a bad start that left him bottled up and behind LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami. By the time he managed to overtake the Japanese Honda rider, Fabio Quartararo was too far ahead to even think about catching him. Vinales' face in parc ferme after his second podium of 2021 after his Qatar GP win, and his snub to Massimo Meregalli, the team manager of Yamaha, whom he did not want to hug, were a foretaste of what was to come later in front of the microphones.

Despite denying that he would most likely be joining Aprilia in 2022, Vinales admitted that he had been thinking for some time about not fulfilling the full duration of his Yamaha contract, which, after the last renewal, was due to expire in 2022.

"Of course, I have thought about it. I've been thinking about it since the beginning of the season," the rider replied when asked directly about the surprising change of scenery that was made official on Monday.

It is very difficult to understand the reasoning that has motivated Vinales to voluntarily and prematurely get off the bike with the most victories in 2021 (five out of nine), with which Fabio Quartararo leads the world championship quite comfortably by 34 points. Most people in the paddock, including some of those around Vinales, consider him to be making a strategic blunder. Pending confirmation from Aprilia that he will join for 2022, the #12 rider's unexpected U-turn will surely serve to calm the waters between him and his team, who are "sure to breathe a sigh of relief", according to one Yamaha insider.

Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The parting of ways was resolved in Holland, once the two sides concluded that no reconciliation was possible. The contract signed in January 2020 contained clauses providing for hefty compensation to be paid by the breaker, so a mutual agreement was sought. In this way, the rider waived the nearly eight million euros he would have received in 2022, and the Iwata-based company agreed not to ask him for any money for it. The speed with which the matter was closed is the most obvious proof of the willingness to do so, with the press release from Yamaha issued on Monday stating the contract termination was on Vinales’ request – meaning Yamaha isn’t entitled to pay him any sort of severance for 2022.

At Yamaha, Vinales' departure is, on the one hand, a financial relief as he is the second-highest paid rider on the grid, signed in the pre-COVID era. With those eight million euros that the Japanese manufacturer did not count on, they can find a more affordable second rider - Franco Morbidelli is the best positioned to do so - and save a good amount of money.

Apart from the purely economic aspect, most of the members of the factory team believe that his departure will allow harmony to return to a garage that since his arrival in 2017, has undergone a process of permanent change, with almost constant ups and downs.

"The main problem is his ups and downs. One day he's at the top of his game, and then the next he's at rock bottom," a voice very close to him tells Autosport. "The same thing you see with the bike can also be applied to his personal life.”

At this point, one wonders what he expects to find wherever he goes, presumably Aprilia, if we take into account that most of the bikes are already allocated and that Aleix Espargaro - his former team-mate at Suzuki and a great friend - is waiting for him there

First it was Ramon Forcada, three-time world champion with Jorge Lorenzo as track engineer, who was replaced by Esteban Garcia before the start of 2019. Then came others, such as Javier Ullate, also a member of Lorenzo's team. The last replacement was Silvano Galbusera, who took over Garcia's role at the Catalan GP, after Yamaha took over in a move that didn't sit well with Vinales.

Along the way he also changed agent and assistant. The calamitous weekend at Sachsenring, where Vinales was not fast at any point, led to such a level of frustration that he became ruthlessly critical of Yamaha, who, he said, had for years failed to give him any answers to the lack of traction problems that appear at certain circuits, and which prevent him from being at his best.

For Vinales, this outcome will surely also be a release, although it is likely to be short-lived. Within his team there is a belief that the element that destabilises him the most is the pressure of having to fight for the most ambitious targets there are. "At Suzuki, because I wasn't obliged to win, any positive result I achieved was welcome. But here, it's different and the pressure increases," he tells this same qualified witness.

Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

To try to solve the problem, the rider was asked on several occasions to see a sports psychologist, something that Quartararo, for example, has done, and he has no qualms about admitting that it brings him a lot of peace of mind. Vinales, at least for the moment, is not in favour of it.

At this point, one wonders what he expects to find wherever he goes, presumably Aprilia, if we take into account that most of the bikes are already allocated and that Aleix Espargaro - his former team-mate at Suzuki and a good friend of his - is waiting for him there.

Whatever it is, he is certainly not looking for better tools than he has now, as that is practically impossible. The answer will have to come from him, because there is no one in the paddock who understands him.

Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images