Fabio Quartararo: Yamaha is “completely lost”, I want to “avoid getting hurt”

Quartararo again voiced his frustration over Yamaha’s competitive troubles in MotoGP after a tough outing in Mugello on Saturday

Fabio Quartararo believes Yamaha has slipped backwards at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, insisting his goal now is to simply avoid getting injured.

The 2021 MotoGP champion has endured a torrid weekend at Mugello so far, qualifying almost a full second down in 18th and struggling to a distant 14th-place finish in the sprint.

In both cases, he was not even the fastest rider within the Yamaha contingent, with factory team-mate Alex Rins qualifying 12th and finishing in the same position in the sprint. Even Pramac’s Jack Miller outqualified him on Saturday afternoon, although the Australian dropped behind in the race.

Matters were not helped by Quartararo crashing in Friday practice, with the Frenchman losing the front end heading into Turn 4. He nearly avoided another fall at the same corner later in the same session, prompting him to almost punch his bike in frustration.

The 27-year-old struck a downbeat tone in the aftermath of the sprint race, insisting this weekend has undone the progress Yamaha had made since last month’s Jerez test.

“There are no opportunities,” he told Canal+. “First of all, we're completely lost. And secondly, the feeling I had from the Jerez test up until the last race was much better. Here, we've completely lost that feeling. So there's really nothing to hope for.

“The main thing is to avoid getting hurt. For my future, I at least want to stay fit. We'll get through this race somehow. Anyway, even scoring points is going to be difficult.”

Quartararo expressed frustration with Yamaha's slow rate of development, as the Japanese manufacturer keeps struggling to recover the ground it lost following its switch to a V4 engine.

“Nothing is improving,” he lamented. “But generally, it's not even a set-up issue anymore; it's a matter of bringing new parts. We've been running essentially the same bike for months now, and there hasn't been any improvement. So that's where we are.

“My job is to give my maximum. As riders, I think we're putting in a huge amount of effort and intensity. Now it's not really up to me anymore to do the work of improving the bike.”