Major honours
Yamaha entered Grand Prix racing in 1961 and took its first world title with Phil Read's 250cc crown in 1964, then ended MV Agusta's seventeen-year hold on the premier class when Giacomo Agostini rode a two-stroke to the title in 1975. Kenny Roberts won as a rookie in 1978, and Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey added six more titles between the late 1980s and 1992. Yamaha's identity has always come from the YZR-M1's inline-four layout, a configuration that favours smooth power delivery and high corner speed and underpinned Valentino Rossi's titles in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009, Jorge Lorenzo's flowing style, and Fabio Quartararo's 2021 championship. That same strength turned into a weakness once Michelin's rear tyre and aerodynamic downforce pushed the class toward hard braking and strong drive out of corners, and Yamaha confirmed a V4 M1 for the 2026 season, abandoning the inline-four layout it had held for more than twenty years.
Record comparison
Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.
Club legends
Rivalry
The rivalry with Honda runs through Yamaha's entire history, and its high point came when Rossi beat Honda at Welkom in 2004 on an M1 that had not won a race the previous year. The 2010s produced an equally fierce rivalry inside the garage, when Rossi and Lorenzo split over the 2015 title while riding for the same team.