Time is playing into Yamaha’s hands, believes Fabio Quartararo, who is not 100% happy with the Yamaha M1’s current performance after the first day of MotoGP testing in Qatar. The rider spoke about the addition of Max Bartolini, ex-Ducati, in whom he has a lot of confidence.
After talking about the bike’s excessive grip at Lusail, the Frenchman went on to say that it was the biggest problem: ‘It’s our biggest problem and the main thing we need to improve this season. The pace isn’t bad, I know, it’s never too bad, but if you start 14th, 13th or 12th you can’t expect to fight for the podium, but if you start sixth or seventh, I don’t even mean fighting for the front row, but being sixth, seventh, eighth is our goal at the moment’.
He then focused on the contribution of the team’s new engineer, an ex-Ducati driver:
– The thing is that Max arrived a few months ago, or I don’t even know if two months ago, maybe one and a half. I don’t expect everything from him, because I think he has to understand the bike and the way we’re working is already very good and I like it a lot, and that’s why I’m motivated: I feel we’re working well. I have to be passionate because it’s not a pleasure to finish within 0.6s of someone, but I think he’s very calm, I get to the garage and I’m upset and I look at him and he’s laughing, and he knows we’re missing a lot. He needs time, all of us, and I think the best results will come, but not now.
Quartararo believes that Bartolini will be crucial for the team to return to the top, but he has asked for time: ‘We have a good connection, I talk to him a lot. The first meeting I had with him lasted three hours, I was asking question after question, and for him it was difficult because he came from a factory that was winning, it’s a big challenge for him, and I want to win first and foremost for myself, but in his case who comes from a factory that has been winning for two years and he leaves, I think it will be a big challenge and I want to be part of it for him to be back at the top too’.