“I wish Yamaha made me honour my contract”

With nearly every MotoGP rider being grilled for his opinion about Jorge Martin attempting to escape his current deal with Aprilia, Maverick Vinales responded to the question with an unexpected reference to his sudden departure from Yamaha in 2021.

“It’s none of my business,” was the initial response by Tech3 KTM rider Vinales, who switched to Aprilia following his departure from Yamaha that summer – a move which involved ending his contract with the Japanese factory.

But the Spaniard then elaborated on his own memories of what it was like for a deal to turn sour on some level.

“It’s always a tough situation, especially when it happens during the first races of the season. From this point on, coexisting becomes difficult. I don’t really know what Jorge or Aprilia think either – it’s hard to analyse it from the outside,” Vinales said.

“When I broke [up] with Yamaha, I didn’t keep riding for them. I didn’t have to stay there knowing I wasn’t going to continue,” he explained by way of differentiating his case from Martin’s.

“The hardest part about all of this is staying focused and giving 100% on the bike, which is ultimately what we’re paid for.”

Still, while Vinales was able to break his Yamaha contract – giving up a lot of money in the process – Aprilia doesn’t want to let Martin go and insists he fulfil his contract until the end.

With the benefit of hindsight, Vinales says he believes there is merit in such an approach.

“I wish Yamaha had done the same to me as Aprilia is doing to Martin and said, ‘See it through to the end, kid,’” he said, throwing a metaphorical punch.

“I would have learned a lot. If I could go back, knowing what I know now, I’d definitely do things differently.

“You have to respect all parties and always be honest. We’re lucky to be able to do this sport, and we must give our best to the team we’re with.

“The first thing to know is whether Jorge has actually said he doesn’t want to race with Aprilia next year – that’s important.

“When there’s no harmony, it’s tough. And a year in a situation like that feels very long.”