Since his time in Moto3, Maverick Viñales has always been one of the most talented riders, but he has also been frequently involved in news regarding his relationships with his teams. That scare when he was fighting for the Moto3 title, or the expulsion from Yamaha, are two of the episodes that have most marked his career. But when Viñales has been in form he has been unbeatable.
This was demonstrated in his last season with Aprilia and, especially, in the weekend of the then called GP of the Americas, in which he swept. Then he decided to leave Noale for Mattighofen, betting on a project that few others saw a future for. What’s more, he was so convinced of the project and the brand that when KTM was experiencing its worst moments, he came, as reported at the time, to buy shares in the brand.
Perhaps because of that confidence in the project and the exciting way he started until his injury at the German GP a year ago, this whole situation is more complicated. And Maverick, during the German GP that takes place this weekend at Sachsenring, has spoken openly about his current situation.
A situation that seemed quite stable but, as I told GPOne colleagues, has been going awry day by day. According to Viñales himself, KTM had told him that he would be in the official team until 2027 and it was after the Catalan GP when (according to his version), he found out through the media about the signing of Fabio Di Giannantonio by the Austrian brand.
From here is when things get weirder, as Maverick himself comments: “At that time I spoke to KTM and then when I got to Mugello, they sent me a contract by email. I signed it and well, it wasn’t a good contract, but I wanted to race anyway. I really believed in the KTM engineers. So, even though it wasn’t a contract that served my interests, I signed it. And after two weeks they told me that contract wasn’t valid. After something like that, what can you expect? I mean, I don’t want to stay here. On their part, it wasn’t serious.”
Viñales’ future is uncertain even for him
Logically, this situation has greatly affected Viñales, who admits that his shoulder has not yet physically recovered. He talks about his future in which he is not clear about whether he will continue or not or, in fact, if he has 100% decided to want to do it even in other championships: “I don’t know. I think that in motorcycling I’ve already done everything I could do. Maybe there are good opportunities, maybe not, I don’t know. I’m not even looking for them. Maybe I would like to race, do some races to enjoy racing. But at the moment I’m not looking for anything. I’m looking for a nice vacation.”
These last words undoubtedly reflect a very different state of mind than what we saw before the injury and even in preseason before the shoulder gave him problems again. For now, Viñales still has half a season ahead of him and the opportunity to shine again.
Although the end of his statements do not point to optimism: “I don’t think it will continue”he said in conclusion.
