Maverick Viñales reflects on his career-altering departure from Yamaha in 2021

After moving from Suzuki to Yamaha in 2017, Maverick Viñales initially dominated with three impressive early victories. However, performance struggles followed, leading to a contentious split in 2021 after he deliberately tried damaging his engine.

Viñales joined Aprilia, staying until his recent switch to the Tech3 KTM team. Speaking on Jorge Lorenzo’s podcast, the ten-time race winner admitted regretting his premature Yamaha exit. Although he originally craved a change of scenery to transform the grid’s “worst bike,” he now realizes staying offered more gain.

He highlighted 2017 as his lost title chance, lamenting that Yamaha disregarded his plea to leave the dominant preseason bike untouched. Instead, unwanted technical changes and tire issues derailed his potential. Additionally, Viñales reflected on the strange pressure of outperforming his idol, Valentino Rossi. He noted that Rossi’s massive influence over Yamaha’s development direction often made internal team dynamics difficult, despite the legend’s undeniable personal charisma.