Has MotoGP’s oddest partnership already come to an end?

Jorge Lorenzo becoming Maverick Vinales’ MotoGP rider coach last winter raised eyebrows, but rumours are now beginning to swirl that the relationship may already be ending.

Three-time MotoGP world champion Lorenzo announced at the end of last season that he would become Maverick Vinales’ performance coach, which is something the pair first discussed after the latter won the 2024 Americas Grand Prix for Aprilia.

Vinales has carved himself out as MotoGP’s ultimate enigma, possessing immense speed and talent, but so far having just 10 victories to his credit in a career that now stretches back to 2015.

The link-up between Lorenzo and Vinales seemingly got off to a glowing start, despite scepticism that the pair - formerly bitter rivals on-track - could actually work together.

What was hoped to unlock Vinales’ full potential hasn’t so far proven to be the case, with Vinales’ initial happiness with the KTM package he had in testing quickly vanishing after a tough start to the 2026 campaign.

Vinales was around 30 seconds down on Pedro Acosta on the leading KTM in second in Thailand, as the Tech3 rider struggled to 16th. Coming from 20th on the grid in Brazil, Vinales again over 35s off the win and out of the points in 18th.

Ahead of the Brazil round, he issued an ultimatum that he would change his bike spec to match what Acosta has if he found no gains at Goiania.

“In Austin, I’ll be riding the full 2026 bike and starting from scratch with the one everyone else is using,” Vinales said on Sunday in Brazil, as reported by GPOne. Until now, he had been using various 2025 parts, on which he emerged as the leading KTM rider in the first part of last season.

Lorenzo’s absence in Brazil raises big questions

But what is going on for Vinales on-track seems to be compounded off-track by an apparent changing of his relationship with Lorenzo.

Lorenzo wasn’t present in Brazil, nor is he set to be in Austin, with the Spaniard’s next appearance in the paddock slated for Jerez, where he is due to pick up his duties with DAZN as a pundit.

Radio Paddock is now reporting that the relationship between both parties has ended, though there is yet to be any official word on this.

Motorsport.com's Spanish edition reported Vinales as saying this on Lorenzo ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix: “He hasn’t come, everything is still going ahead, but the work with Jorge has been throughout the winter in preparation [for the new season]. Now, during the season, it’s more about working with the team at the grands prix and in the garage.”

When asked about Lorenzo’s absence from the Tech3 garage on Saturday, team boss Nico Goyon told the world feed: “I believe so [that everything is fine between them]. He’s not here. I don’t know too much about this, sorry. That’s Maverick staff and we try to focus on the technical staff and on the race.”

Vinales was pressed on the reports that emerged about his relationship with Lorenzo, but offered a fairly sharp response on Sunday after the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“No, he won’t be in Austin. Right now, though, I’m not interested in rumours; I have other problems to worry about.”

Vinales could well just be taking the ‘I don’t respond to rumours’ approach, but it also wasn’t exactly a denial of said reports, which only further fuels speculation.

Vinales’ own MotoGP future faces uncertainty

As the 2026 season began, Vinales was being hotly tipped to make a step from Tech3 to the factory KTM squad for 2027 alongside Alex Marquez.

Those reports came as Pedro Acosta looks set to move to Ducati, despite delays in any announcements being made as the manufacturers continue discussions with MotoGP over a new agreement that would see them take a greater share of the money generated by the championship.

However, Vinales’ poor start to the season has seemingly closed the door to a factory KTM step for the time being, according to Motorsport.

With so much movement already seemingly having taken place in the 2027 rider market, Vinales’ contract situation now looks more precarious than it did just a few weeks ago.