Fabio Quartararo finished the MotoGP tests in Qatar with the 14th best time. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider continued to work with the team on improving the YZR-M1, but there is still a long way to go.
The Frenchman explained to the press that there are two main areas to improve: ‘There is a lot of work to do in several things. Rear grip is one of the main aspects, but especially turning and rear grip. I was behind [Enea] Bastianini in the Sprint simulation and I had the chance to see several things that they are doing much better than us, so it’s good information for us’.
Regarding the progress made on Tuesday, Quartararo admitted that it was not considerable: ‘Progress? Today we didn’t do much, but the track conditions were better. The thing is, we couldn’t really find the limit very… not easily, but there’s more in a certain moment of our bike. But I believe we have room for improvement. But we have to find these things that will give us some grip and not make the tire break so much’.
It is undeniable that Yamaha needs to make considerable progress. The 2021 champion was asked if he is pleased with the pace at which these are happening, responding: ‘I think we need more time. There’s the new engineer who came from the Reds [Ducati; Max Bartolini] who arrived six weeks ago. So we need more time, more tests. We need another three/four months to see the improvement of the bike, but hopefully we can feel it’.
And is Quartararo prepared to wait this long before deciding his future? ‘It depends, we’ll see. But I believe a lot in the project, I think Yamaha is doing… even though at the moment it’s very complicated, I believe they are doing their best. And I don’t think about these three/four months of my future; I’m thinking about improving our bike,’ he said.
This year, Yamaha has concessions that help accelerate the development of the bike. El Diablo commented: ‘It’s better with the concessions, of course. And having someone who has the idea of what the fastest bike in the paddock was last year, I think he knows and he needs more time to see where we can improve.’
