Guenther Steiner: 'Maverick Vinales must stay away until he is 100% fit'

The Tech3 owner won't let his rider rush back. Nor will he rush a decision on 2026 machinery, for that matter...

Tech3 KTM boss Guenther Steiner has said that Maverick Vinales will likely only return to action at the Italian Grand Prix after telling him to recover fully before another comeback.

Vinales has come in for criticism for his enthusiasm to return to action following a shoulder injury sustained at last summer's German Grand Prix. There have been multiple false starts, most recently in March's United States Grand Prix, from which he withdrew in order to have a stray surgical screw removed from his injured shoulder.

Read Also:

MotoGPMaverick Vinales undergoes shoulder surgery to remove loose screw

Steiner is now demanding that the Spanish rider does not rush another return to action, strongly suggesting that he will not be in action in Barcelona next weekend. Missing the Catalan GP will allow him another two weeks to recuperate before the Italian GP at Mugello at the end of the month.

"Everybody expected he was just going to take the screw out and then... it's all good. But apparently it's not like this," said Steiner on the MotoGP world feed, referring to what appear to be complications with the latest procedure.

"But we told him also, he needs to be 100% fit. There's no point that he comes back and tries again and then... he cannot go anywhere. So, at the moment, it is Mugello.

"I mean, obviously, he's trying to get fit for Barcelona. [But] we want him to be 100%, because otherwise, if he's not 100%, he loses also his confidence, you know, not being out there, [doing] what he can do. Because we know how quick he is, so that is the aim, to get him back [at] 100%. And I think that will be Mugello."

Alessio Salucci, VR46 Team Manager, Guenther Steiner Tech3 KTM team owner

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Steiner acknowledged that it was difficult for Vinales to be patient, given that seats for the 2027 season are disappearing fast as other riders prove themselves in his absence. But he suggested that there would still be options - including perhaps remaining with Tech3.

"He's desperate to get back. [But] like I said before, he needs to be 100%, because if you've got Maverick, 90% off, that's not good enough, you know, because you see how difficult this is. I mean, from the first to the last place, there is only one second. If you're not 100% physically, you cannot do this job.

"So he needs to be back, and then I think the decision will be taken after. I think everybody has got time."

On Friday at Le Mans, Steiner's facts were not quite correct as far as a one-second spread was concerned. Ironically, that was mostly due to Vinales' stand-in Jonas Folger being two and a half seconds off the pace.

KTM or Honda for Tech3 in 2027?

Whether Tech3 runs KTM machines next year is another open question. The French satellite team is known to be talking with Honda, something Steiner did not deny. But the Italian, who only moved into the helm at Tech3 for this season, did hint that a decision would be announced soon.

"At the moment, we are still talking. I'm not just saying we are talking. We want to make sure that we are in a good place next year. That is our biggest aim.

"To be sure, we are taking a little bit more time than we should take, but we want to make sure that we take the right decision.

"It's also very difficult to decide, because nobody knows what the bikes will be next year. It's a completely new regulation, you know. It's one of these years where... whatever you do, you are taking a little bit of a gamble.

"Also for me coming in here, being new to everything, it takes a little bit longer to understand. I want to be sure that I don't miss anything, and... in two or three weeks I regret what I did. So I'm speaking with a few people, and hopefully in the next two weeks we can announce it."