Hamilton’s F1 moves are a template for a MotoGP giant

The way Lewis Hamilton rocked Formula 1 with his seemingly abrupt decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari was always going to be ripe for comparisons to any other major team switch scenario that cropped up in other parts of motorsport or F1’s future.

MotoGP’s already had one equivalent with Marc Marquez exiting Honda for Gresini Ducati, and with the volatility of the rider market going into 2024 it’s braced for plenty more.

But when Yamaha MotoGP boss Lin Jarvis cited both of Hamilton’s shock F1 team moves (McLaren to Mercedes then Mercedes to Ferrari) in relation to Fabio Quartararo, he did it not in relation to the chance of his star rider leaving as Hamilton’s leaving Mercedes, but in terms of how Yamaha could make sure it keeps him.

There are some surface parallels between Quartararo’s current situation and Hamilton’s at both McLaren (which he suddenly left for Mercedes in 2013) and Mercedes (which he will now swap for Ferrari in 2025).

Like Quartararo’s Yamaha tenure, both of Hamilton’s stints brought him no shortage of silverware – but, like Yamaha has in the last couple of seasons, both McLaren and Mercedes stagnated in the years leading up to Hamilton’s decisions.

However, that is not the way Jarvis is looking at it. Instead, he sees the rival efforts to sign Hamilton as informative, specifically in the longer-term promise being prioritised.

“If we’re not 100% competitive this year, we need to be convincing that [through] our investments, we are making progress,” said Jarvis when asked about the task of keeping hold of Quartararo, whose Yamaha deal expires at the end of the current season.

“Because if you sign a contract, you don’t sign a contract for the bike that you have. You sign it for the bike that you expect that you will have in the future.

“And it’s interesting looking at Lewis Hamilton’s change now. Because it’s a big, ballsy change that he’s making.

“And I do remember, and he quoted it this week himself, that he made a big change in 2013. When he went to Mercedes, a lot of people, including me, I also said, ‘Really, are you sure?!’.

“Obviously he knew something, he had some confidence that they were putting in place what was necessary to be competitive in the future.

“So the most important thing for the rider choice, and [also recruiting a] satellite team, is to convince them of our intention, capacity, skills, for the future.”

Yamaha’s long-term vision

The contrast here – beyond the philosophical difference in recruiting an outside hire versus convincing a current employee to stay – is that both of Hamilton’s moves came in the immediate run-up to a major regulations change on the engine side.

His Mercedes pivot became a huge success thanks to the manufacturer maximising F1’s switch to hybrid engines in 2014, and there is no doubt he has similar hopes for Ferrari and F1’s new power unit rules in 2026.

For Yamaha, there is no…