Yamaha management has issued a public apology to its MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales following the team's worst combined qualifying result of the season in Austria.
Rossi failed to lift himself out of Q1 for the first time since Barcelona last year, and will start the Austrian Grand Prix from 14th, while teammate Maverick Vinales was a second off the pole pace in 11th.
With the Red Bull Ring amplifying Yamaha's electronics issues under acceleration, prior to both riders' media debriefs on Saturday, Yamaha management made a public apology to both of its factory riders for its struggles this weekend.
Project leader Kouji Tsuya said: “Today it was very difficult for us because we are struggling with acceleration performance, so power delivery, to adjust the power delivery more precisely.
“This track we know is a difficult track for us, because we couldn't achieve the the correct power delivery for the riders more precisely.
“So maybe this is the worst qualifying result for us, but we have to apologise to the riders for this lack of acceleration performance right now.”
Tsuya-san also revealed a recurring sensor issue for Vinales has “disturbed” his concentration “too much”, and revealed it plans to test at Misano next weekend in order to find a “solution for these difficulties” prior to the British Grand Prix.
“Maverick today, and on Friday as well, we have some sensor problem, a technical problem with our bike and we faced in FP1 and FP4 again.
“So we disturbed Maverick's concentration too much. So we are still investigating how to solve this problem for tomorrow, but I just want to say sorry to the riders, not to be able to concentrate to go faster, to qualify better.
“We have some technical problems with Maverick and less performance now. We are struggling, but we have to say sorry to the riders.
“Now of course we are working hard as ever to find a solution for tomorrow, and after this race we will have a test in Misano before Silverstone, and also after Silverstone we have the test in Aragon as well to find a solution for these difficulties."
Rossi knew Yamaha had to “suffer” at a track which on paper does not suit the M1, but was surprised at how much, and branded the situation as “frustrating” as it echoes the Iwata marque's problems from last year.
“I knew we had to suffer on this track, because on the paper it's one of the worst [for Yamaha],” he told BT Sport.
“But for sure I don't think to suffer like this. I was also a bit unlucky because just in the FP1 was dry, and I broke the bike, and if not I could stay in the top 10.
“But it's like this, tomorrow will be very difficult. It's a great shame, it's a bit frustrating because this situation is very similar to last year, and you expect to fix the problem after some months, because it's not easy.
“But I think Yamaha, if Yamaha want, it can fix. So we hope this very difficult moment can help to make the step, because for sure to recover the disadvantage [in the championship] we cannot do with a small modification. You need to try seriously."
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