Quartararo was born in Nice, France, to a family of Sicilian origin. His father, Étienne, was a motorcycle racer who won the 1983 French 125cc Championship and raced in the 250cc class of the 1986 French motorcycle Grand Prix. On 14 July 2022 Quartararo was awarded a Knight of the Legion of Honour. He currently resides in Andorra.
Quartararo began racing at the age of four in France before moving to Spain to compete in the Promovelocidad Cup, a series for young riders organised by the Real Automóvil Club de Cataluña. He won championship titles in the 50cc class in 2008, the 70cc class in 2009, and the 80cc class in 2011. In 2012 he won the Mediterranean pre-Moto3 class, the Spanish domestic championship.
Moving into the Moto3 class of the CEV Repsol series in 2013, Quartararo joined Wild Wolf Racing — run by former Grand Prix racer Juan Borja — riding a Honda. He finished on the podium in his maiden race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, then won each of the final three races from pole position. At 14 years and 218 days he became the youngest series champion and the first non-Spanish winner since Stefan Bradl in 2007, surpassing the previous record held by Aleix Espargaró.
For 2014 Quartararo moved to the Estrella Galicia 0,0 junior team run by Emilio Alzamora, the 1999 125cc world champion, still riding a Honda. He won nine of eleven races, finishing 127 points clear of Jorge Navarro. At the final round in Valencia he also beat World Championship competitors Alexis Masbou and John McPhee. In August 2014 the Grand Prix Commission — comprising representatives from Dorna Sports, the FIM, IRTA and MSMA — changed age eligibility rules to allow the FIM CEV Moto3 champion, regardless of age, to compete in the following season's Moto3 World Championship.
Quartararo joined the Moto3 World Championship in 2015 with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team, partnered by Jorge Navarro, riding a Honda. At his opening race in Qatar he held the race lead with two laps remaining before contact with Francesco Bagnaia dropped him to seventh, finishing 0.772 seconds behind race winner Masbou. At Austin he took his first World Championship podium with second place behind Danny Kent. He claimed his first pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix. At Le Mans he led before a high-side crash. He finished second at Assen, 0.066 seconds behind race winner Miguel Oliveira. At Misano he fractured his right ankle in a free practice crash, missing that race and the following round in Aragon, where he was replaced by Sena Yamada. He finished the season tenth with 92 points.
On 26 September 2015 it was announced Quartararo would join Leopard Racing for 2016 on a two-year contract. The season proved difficult; he scored no better than fourth place in Austria, went pointless in six races, and finished sixth at his home race at Le Mans.
Quartararo moved to Moto2 in 2017 with Pons Racing, partnered by Edgar Pons. His best results were seventh in Qatar and sixth in San Marino; he finished 13th in the championship with 64 points.
For 2018 Quartararo switched to Speed Up Racing. He achieved his first Grand Prix victory in Catalunya and followed it with second place at Assen. He finished tenth in the championship with 138 points.
In August 2018 it was announced that Quartararo would join Franco Morbidelli at the newly created satellite team Petronas Yamaha SRT for 2019. Yamaha provided him with a factory-spec machine. He qualified on pole at the Spanish Grand Prix, setting a new record as the youngest ever MotoGP polesitter, a record previously held by Marc Márquez since 2013. He also took consecutive poles in Catalunya and Assen and set a new lap record at Assen, becoming the youngest rider with consecutive pole positions in MotoGP. He finished third at Assen behind Maverick Viñales and Marc Márquez. Further podiums came at Austria (third) and second-place finishes in San Marino, Thailand, Japan and Valencia. He finished the season fifth with 192 points, seven podiums and six pole positions.
At the first race of the delayed 2020 season in Jerez, Quartararo qualified on pole and won his maiden premier class victory after briefly dropping to fifth. At the second Jerez round he again took pole and won, leading from the outset and building an eight-second lead before winning by 4.5 seconds over Maverick Viñales. He added a third win at the Catalunya round. At the first Aragon round he suffered an injured hip after a free practice highside but was cleared to qualify, taking pole; lingering pain led to an 18th-place finish.
On 29 January 2020 Yamaha announced Quartararo would replace Valentino Rossi at the factory team from 2021. He opened the season at Losail with a fifth place and then a win in consecutive weekends. At Portimão he took pole (after Bagnaia's lap was invalidated) and led the last 17 of 25 laps for his second win. In Jerez he was penalised for pulling into Viñales's garage during a bike swap in changing conditions but still finished third; Johann Zarco took second and Jack Miller first. At Mugello he dedicated his pole and race win to Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier, who died following a qualifying accident. In Catalunya he took a fifth consecutive pole — the first rider to do so in the premier class since Marc Márquez in 2014 — but received two three-second penalties, one for a shortcut and one for riding with his leather suit zipper open, dropping to sixth. He took further wins at Assen and Silverstone. Bagnaia's race crash at Misano with five laps remaining confirmed Quartararo as champion with two races remaining, giving him five victories, ten podiums, and the title.
Quartararo took the only pole of his 2022 season at Mandalika, 0.2 seconds ahead of Jorge Martín. He won three races before the summer break: Portugal, the Catalan Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix. He finished the season with 248 points and eight podiums, runner-up to Bagnaia, who overcame a 91-point deficit Quartararo held after the German Grand Prix.
Quartararo signed a contract extension on 2 June 2022 for 2023 and 2024. He took three podiums during the season — in the Americas, India and Indonesia — finishing tenth in the standings, ahead of teammate Morbidelli.
Quartararo finished 13th in the standings, his first MotoGP season without a podium finish. At the 2024 German Grand Prix, a circuit traditionally suited to his strengths, he finished 11th.
On 5 April 2024 Quartararo signed a further contract extension for 2025 and 2026. He returned to the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix with pole position and second place, his first podium since the 2023 Indonesian Grand Prix, followed by consecutive poles at the French and British Grands Prix. He crashed out of the French Grand Prix in wet conditions and retired from the British Grand Prix with a ride height device failure. A further DNF at Aragon gave him three consecutive main race non-finishes, the first time this had occurred in his premier class career.
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