Fabio Quartararo has dropped the clearest hint yet that he is coming close to a decision over his 2025 MotoGP deal amid speculation he is plotting an exit from Yamaha at the end of the season.

The Frenchman - who won the 2021 MotoGP World Championship with Yamaha - has spent his entire tenure in the premier class with the Iwata marque, making his debut with the Petronas SRT outfit in 2019 before being promoted to the factory team.

However, relations with the manufacturer have frayed over the past 18 months after a steady decline in competitiveness and while Quartararo would ultimately choose to put concerns aside by committing on a deal for 2023 and 2024, it is understood he has been keeping options open for 2025.

Speaking to the MotoGP website ahead of this weekend’s second round of the 2024 MotoGP season in Portugal, Quartararo reveals an announcement will be made in the next month.

“It will be soon,” he said. “Exact date I don’t know, but I will not spend a month to take a decision, so it will be quite quick and we will see…”

Which team will Fabio Quartararo join for 2025 MotoGP if he exits Yamaha?

While all-but-four seats on a 22-strong (at least) grid next season are ultimately up for grabs, Quartararo ranks with Jorge Martin as the two riders arguably most in demand during this latest round of the silly season rumour mill.

Though the Frenchman has been something of a bit-part player over the past 12 months as Yamaha struggles to dig itself out of the hole from plateaued performance amid steps forward from its European rivals, his mighty efforts on the underpowered and skittish Yamaha M1 have earned him praise.

His stock thus remains very high within MotoGP, though in many ways staying with Yamaha perhaps represents his most logical choice. After all, he’s initiated Yamaha’s broad overhaul and change in ethos over the past 18 months and will be tempted to see it through, even if a lacklustre showing at the Qatar MotoGP opener seems to have failed to meet even the more modest expectations.

As such, the competitor in Quartararo will be tempted elsewhere, though where isn’t clear.

Leading the bid for his signature is Aprilia Racing, which will see Quartararo as a huge coup and just the figure it needs to be consistently up front, more so than Maverick Vinales, whom the Frenchman comfortably out-performed when they were team-mates at Yamaha.

It is the manufacturer that has been front and centre of rumours for the future, but it isn’t the only one with Pramac Racing also in the frame.

The Italian team’s manager Gino Borsoi was recently quoted as expecting to see Martin leave the satellite outfit at the end of 2024 - be it into Ducati’s factory line-up or elsewhere - and Quartararo, who has been doe-eyed about the pace of firm’s bikes - will likely see Pramac as a great opportunity to both get on a competitive machine and relaunch his rivalry with Pecco Bagnaia.

Elsewhere, KTM are likely out on account of it being a touch over-subscribed already with Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller battling it out to partner Brad Binder in 2025, while there are few - if any - riders queuing up to take the cash and wrestle with the Honda.