Fabio Quartararo has declared that Yamaha are “not ready” to fight for the 2022 MotoGP world championship based on current form, conceding that “you don’t win championships with P8’s.”
Having taken the start from sixth after being baulked in qualifying by a touring Jack Miller, the reigning MotoGP world champion was expected to move forward and fight for a rostrum position in the Argentinean Grand Prix based on his earlier practice speed.
This scenario ultimately failed to play out though as he first of all made a sluggish start that dropped him to ninth, before subsequently being shuffled back as far as 13th while struggling with a lack of grip from his rear tyre in the opening tours.
He eventually managed to slice back through to eighth by the end of the encounter, though the frustrated Frenchman admitted that defending his championship would be “difficult” if Yamaha couldn’t get on top of its early race problems.
“To be honest the first two laps for us with the rear tyre were really difficult, I just didn’t have the grip I expected and I struggled so much,” said Quartararo.
“This affected my acceleration and braking, luckily this improved and I could raise my pace but it was still tough to make any improvements forward.
“I’m not satisfied because you don’t win a championship with P8’s, you win a championship fighting for podiums and top fives, and right now we are not ready for that and it is really frustrating.
“If everytime we get into a race where we have a string race pace and we have this problem it will be difficult to fight for the title, so we need to find a solution and fund out why we have these struggles at the start of the race.
“It’s a shame because my pace was much better than we showed today, but it is what it is.”
Quartararo batted away suggestions though that Yamaha’s current tough spot was causing him to take his eye off the ball and look elsewhere, the eight-time premier class race victor affirming that he has a “strong mentality” and that he will “remain focussed” to try and make sure he and the Japanese manufacturer can make a step forward for the start of the European leg of the series in Portimao later this month.
“For me it doesn’t affect things that much (future contract talks) because I have a strong mentality and it is not these kind of races that make me unfocussed (on the job),” added Quartararo.
“I will always remain focussed to find out why the problem is happening and then try to see if we can make a step for the European races.”
