KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer says negotiations with Maverick Vinales broke down when the Spaniard learned that the seat available for MotoGP 2027 was at Tech3 rather than the factory team.
Vinales has made several accusations against KTM in recent weeks, openly blaming the Austrian manufacturer for leaving him without a seat next year.
Ahead of this weekend’s German Grand Prix, he claimed that he had signed a contract extension with KTM, only to be told by the team that it was no longer valid.
Responding to Vinales’ recent comments, Beirer stressed that it was crucial for KTM to take the opportunity to sign Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez for the factory team when they were still on the rider market. But he did not mention offering Vinales a firm contract for either of KTM’s two MotoGP teams.
“It’s no secret that we had hoped that [Vinales] would be one of the factory riders in the future,” Beirer said during the official MotoGP feed.
“Last summer, we were discussing this and opened this door. He told us ‘don’t worry for my health, I’m back by Spielberg’. That’s where he made his first comeback last year. Since then, we have been waiting week by week to have him in full form.
“There was a moment when we had the chance to get Alex and Fabio, and in that moment Maverick was just nowhere near to show us that he will come back to that old form. We wouldn’t need a better rider than Maverick was exactly here a year ago when he had this stupid crash in the rain.”
Beirer said that KTM was still willing to keep Vinales within its MotoGP stable, subject to his recovery, but discussions stalled over the latter’s unwillingness to remain at Tech3 in 2027.
Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
“Things went somehow terribly wrong,” he revealed. “Later on, we told him there will be a space for you but we cannot tell you where and what. It looks like he underestimated that this could also be the team where he is today [Tech3], where he had great performance last year.
“I didn’t know that this was not an option for him. He chose now to say that our second team…. which is not the B-level team; both teams are getting on a first class level, especially now with Guenther [Steiner in charge].
“The rider market doesn’t get better by waiting and what do you think we are waiting for? Waiting and not signing a rider was just purely to give Maverick more time to get ready, to show us something. I needed him to show me something. I cannot just take a rider and say, ‘Guenther, that’s your rider’.
“We are planning together. So I really feel sorry for the situation because we like Maverick so much, he’s such a good boy.
“I don’t know why he says so clearly no to one thing and on the other side gives us such a hard stop. So we have to be clear that it’s not a nice situation, but it’s definitely not like we told him, ‘please leave’.
“We started a negotiation and we still have a spot, which we still call a factory spot because we see both teams as four factory spots.”
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Pressed further to clarify if Vinales turned down a Tech3 seat, Beirer added: “We started just a very normal contract conversation.
“We talked already about figures and stuff, how the future could look. But then at one stage things went just wrong when he found out it’s not about the factory spot.
“I understand this frustration because that was his hope and him believing in the factory. He’s ready to fight for the factory and so he wanted a seat in that one team. I don’t know.”
Door still open for Vinales at KTM
Beirer stressed that it’s important for both KTM and Vinales to have a conversation behind closed doors in the summer break, insisting it is key for him to ensure Vinales makes a full recovery in time for the second half of the season.
“We have to calm him down because this is a very long season and we need to get him back in a better mood and still get his full body fitness back because MotoGP is damn dangerous not to be fit and always hesitating on reaction on the bike, so we still need him slightly fitter,” he explained.
“I think we need to talk properly about what happened and why he should say clearly no to what for me is a great place in this paddock. Let’s use the summer break to calm down and maybe restart in a positive way after that.”
While Vinales has already conceded his chances of staying in MotoGP next year, Beirer said the door is still open for the 31-year-old at Tech3, even as he faces a race against time to regain fitness and rediscover his old form.
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
“I will say everything is open over the whole weekend here, that was our deadline between me and Guenther, where we really want to decide what the future brings,” Beirer said in reference to the German GP.
“We never said no to Maverick. So the target or the timing didn’t change and because of one emotional talk. I really want to protect this boy. If he takes this decision, it could be the end of racing for him.
“So it’s very sensitive and he’s not just always calm about this. I can fully understand it because he said one time something too strong, [but it is] no problem with us. The spot is open but time is ticking against us.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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