Maverick Vinales, who missed MotoGP Argentine Grand Prix pole by 0.154 seconds, admits Yamaha's rival are “on a different level” with their electronics.
The M1's electronics have caused problems for Vinales and team-mate Valentino Rossi for over a year now, with the bike's struggles under acceleration plaguing Vinales throughout Friday.
Yamaha managed to make a step forward on Saturday, with Vinales qualifying second having been denied pole by Honda's Marc Marquez late on in Q2.
Vinales was at a loss as to why the Yamaha struggled more for rear grip than in Qatar, and says there is more work to do despite the “good step” forward made on Saturday.
“We had some issues,” he began. “On Friday I could not be strong, I don't know why we struggled more compared to Qatar, especially in rear grip.
“But we made a good step forward today, especially in FP4. I felt better and we need to continue working.
“I think at the moment our competitors are on a different level, especially on the electronics.
“So we need to keep working, keeping our head down and pushing.”
Despite his woes, he admitted he is feeling “great” again on the M1, and says this is “something really special”.
In Qatar, Vinales slipped from pole to seventh at the start and struggled to make up ground due to difficulties in overtaking other riders on the M1.
Working to improve this from FP1, Vinales says he “felt good to overtake”, highlighting a “much better” feeling under braking.
“Yes, I feel much better, much better on hard braking,” he replied when asked if he had ironed out his overtaking issues.
“We are using quite a different set-up, and I felt good to overtake. So let's see tomorrow. For sure I will push, I will be at my maximum in the first laps, and then we will see what happens.
“But for sure I will try tomorrow to be in the front, fighting for the race [win].”
