Maverick Vinales has denied he has agreed to make a shock move to Aprilia but says he has been thinking about leaving Monster Energy Yamaha since the start of the season.
Talk of Vinales potentially being on the move swept through the paddock at Dutch TT this weekend.
The 26-year-old Spaniard is contracted to Yamaha until 2022 but he has been linked with a switch to become Aleix Espargaro's team-mate next year.
Vinales said he has not agreed a deal with Aprilia, yet gave a strong indication he will seek pastures now after finishing second behind MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo in Assen on Sunday.
"No it's not true," Vinales told DAZN after being asked if he was joining Aprilia
"Now, for the moment we go to the summer break and we'll see.
"Of course it's an option [to move on], I'm thinking about it since the beginning of the season, because I'm not able to show my full potential, I can't tell you more."
Aprilia Racing chief executive Massimo Rivola said the team would ask swiftly if the opportunity to sign Vinales arises.
He told DAZN: "We don't know if Maverick will be on the market for 2022. If he is released by Yamaha, then he will certainly be of interest to us.
"But it is all to be built. First of all, we have to see if the rider is available and if he is willing to come to us. We have not spoken with him yet. But if he is released from Yamaha we will talk to him immediately."
Max Verstappen pips Oscar Piastri to pole after tense qualifying for Japanese GP
Max Verstappen set a blistering pace to blow away the challenge of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris and take pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to an end in Singapore last weekend.
The Dutchman topped all three practice sessions at Suzuka to suggest the Milton Keynes-based team had banished the issues that they experienced in the city-state.
And Verstappen was imperious around the high-speed corner circuit – where Lewis Hamilton warned the Red Bull would be “phenomenal” – taking pole by a massive 0.581 seconds ahead of Piastri.
Norris had narrowed the gap to Verstappen, who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles, in final practice to raise hope of a challenge for pole.
But Verstappen was dominant in the final qualifying session on brand new tyres, blowing away the competition from the two McLarens.
“Incredible weekend so far, especially in qualifying when you can push it to the limit. It felt really nice,” Verstappen said on track.
“We had a bad weekend in Singapore. I felt this was going to be a good track. From lap one it has been really nice.”
Piastri, in his debut season in Formula One, had never even been to Japan before this week but got the edge on his McLaren team-mate to line up on the front row.
Red Bull will almost certainly clinch the Constructors’ Championship on Sunday at the home race of their engine supplier Honda.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez finished fifth, over seven tenths adrift of the pace-setter.
Hamilton and George Russell were well off the pace for Mercedes, who are battling with Ferrari to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship, and will line up seventh and eighth on the grid.
Ferrari, who are running a new floor at Suzuka, took fourth via Charles Leclerc, while Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz finished sixth.
Yuki Tsunoda was confirmed by AlphaTauri to be driving alongside Daniel Ricciardo in 2024 and delighted his home crowd by making the top-10 shootout, finishing ninth.
Q1 was red-flagged with just over nine minutes remaining when Williams’ Logan Sargeant oversteered out of the final corner and slid heavily into the barriers.
The American, who is yet to be confirmed by Williams for 2024, quickly jumped out of the car and made his way across the track and back to the pit lane.
Williams Team Principal James Vowles told Sky Sports: “It is heartbreaking for Logan.”
Lando Norris narrows gap on Max Verstappen at final practice in Japan
Lando Norris raised hopes that he could challenge Max Verstappen for pole at the Japanese Grand Prix by finishing final practice within three tenths of the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to an end in Singapore last weekend.
He had set a blistering pace on Friday to suggest the team have put their struggles in the city-state behind them.
The Dutchman’s margin in opening practice was a huge 0.626 seconds over Ferrari’s Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz before beating Charles Leclerc by 0.320sec in P2.
That raised fears that Verstappen, who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles, could dominate the weekend in a Red Bull car which Lewis Hamilton predicted would be “phenomenal” around the high-speed corner track at Suzuka.
But Norris finished just 0.240 seconds adrift of the 25-year-old and just 0.048 ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri as the British team continued to show strong pace.
Mercedes pair Hamilton and George Russell enjoyed a more promising session but remained off the pace of Red Bull and McLaren.
Hamilton in particular struggled badly in Friday’s two practice sessions, finishing 16th and 14th, with the seven-time world champion admitting Mercedes had work to do before qualifying.
The 38-year-old finished seventh in P3, albeit 0.892sec behind pace-setter Verstappen, with Russell eighth.
Mercedes are battling with Ferrari to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship.
Ferrari, who are running a new floor at Suzuka, claimed the edge by finishing fifth and sixth but were over half-a-second adrift of the two McLarens.
Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull claimed fourth, 0.737sec behind his team-mate.
A large number of the teams are struggling with tyre degradation due to the higher-than-usual heat at Suzuka, with a track temperature of over 48 degrees Celsius recorded during P3, raising the possibility of a three-stop race on Sunday.
Qualifying gets under way at 1500 local time (0700 BST).
Max Verstappen returns to form in Japanese Grand Prix practice
A “fired-up” Max Verstappen sent a warning to the rest of the grid that Red Bull are back on form as he set a searing pace to top the first two practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to a shuddering halt last weekend in Singapore, where the team admitted they did not understand their struggles with the car’s set-up around the street circuit.
The 25-year-old was confident of a return to form around the high-speed corner track at Suzuka, where Lewis Hamilton predicted the Red Bull would be “phenomenal”, but all eyes were on the Dutchman who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles.
His response to the struggles of Singapore was immediate and emphatic, finishing 0.626 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz in P1 before beating Charles Leclerc by 0.320sec in P2.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “He dealt with (Singapore) very maturely.
“It was a difficult weekend but he raced very hard. It was what it was. He knew at some point we were going to get beaten and he dealt with the situation well.
“He has certainly come here pretty fired up as you could see from his outlap in P1 today.
“Max knew it was always going to come to an end at some point. That 10th victory meant a lot to him and certainly to the team so I’m glad Singapore wasn’t the 10th in that succession of races. I think he has just shown great leadership and great maturity.”
The second session was red-flagged with a little over two minutes remaining when Pierre Gasly crashed heavily into the barriers at Degner Two, bringing a premature end to the session.
McLaren had been tipped to be the closest challengers to Red Bull and Verstappen this weekend, with Mercedes’ George Russell even suggesting the British team could be favourites.
Lando Norris showed strong pace to finish the day third, albeit 0.464sec off the pace, while Oscar Piastri, who signed a contract extension earlier this week, claimed eighth in the second McLaren.
Red Bull will almost certainly clinch the Constructors’ Championship this weekend at the home race for their engine supplier Honda.
But Sergio Perez was over a second off the pace of his team-mate, finishing 11th in P1 and ninth in P2.
Fernando Alonso claimed sixth for Aston Martin ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon.
Mercedes pair Russell and Hamilton struggled in the opening session, finishing a lowly 13th and 16th respectively, with chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin admitting the team had work to do on the car setup.
Russell claimed fifth in P2 but Hamilton was only 14th, with the seven-time world champion a huge 1.141sec adrift off the pace.
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