Mathieu Warnier, Media365, published on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 8:35 p.m.
Hampered by an over-wearing Yamaha bike, Fabio Quartararo achieved the best possible performance during the Portuguese Grand Prix. The Frenchman hopes to make the right decision for the race on Sunday.
Fabio Quartararo gave everything. After finishing ninth during the qualifying session, the French driver was unable to climb the hierarchy during the twelve laps of the race. After initially falling to eleventh place, particularly after being overtaken by Pedro Acosta, El Diablo took advantage of the events of the race to regain his starting place under the checkered flag. On the Algarve circuit, the Nice driver faced the same difficulties he had in Qatar with his tires, forcing him to choose medium rubber at the rear while all his competitors left the soft tires that “do not hold up” on the Algarve circuit. “I had very bad feelings towards the Soft,” Yamaha added, according to the 2021 world champion, before explaining his strategy for the race. He told the press: “I preferred to struggle a little more in the first two laps and try to improve the pace, but it was very good.” It was good to see the difference with other bikes, like Aleix Espargaro's bike, the riding was completely different and that was good information for us. »
Quartararo: “We will take steps forward until the middle of the season”
Despite everything, Fabio Quartararo takes positives from the experience and heads to the grand prix with one idea in mind. “I think we will leave tomorrow (Sunday) with the hard tires at the front and the medium at the rear, to try to improve our skills and performance with these tyres,” confirmed the Habs team, which intends to test this tire during the warm-up. The goals remain measurable. He added: “I don't know if it would have been much better, but at least we had a race with the means.” For me, what was difficult was the first two laps, because it was very difficult to warm up the back. But I think things have been going well and that we will take on the difficult part at the front tomorrow (Sunday). We didn't test it all weekend, it's a big mistake on our part but that's okay. Like I said, you gain experience. Tomorrow (Sunday), the tires should be firm-medium. » If the results are not there, El Diablo confirms that Yamaha is doing a “very good job” of correcting the problems in its machine. He concluded: “I think we can take steps forward until mid-season.”
