Fabio Quartararo offers ‘pointless’ Yamaha verdict after further MotoGP struggles at the Qatar Grand Prix

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Fabio Quartararo’s Grand Prix of Qatar was a tale of two halves as the Frenchman ended a three-year drought in Lusail.

On Saturday, the Frenchman achieved his first front-row start since the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix, and flexed Yamaha’s excellent one-lap pace.

Quartararo came crashing back down to earth on Sunday, as his MotoGP rivals eased past him early in the race and left him fighting a losing battle.

Eventually, he would cross the line in eighth and was promoted to seventh after a post-race penalty for Maverick Vinales. The Grand Prix of Qatar may have produced his best result of 2025, but it also highlights frustrations.

Quartararo was ‘really frustrated’ in Qatar after Franco Morbidelli impeded him during practice. It was a poor start to the weekend.

There are some encouraging signs for the Japanese manufacturer, and Quartararo thinks Yamaha can catch Ducati. It may take some time though.

READ MORE: Fabio Quartararo shares what Yamaha’s ‘biggest problem’ in MotoGP is, ‘find a solution…’

Fabio Quartararo says Yamaha’s braking zone strength is ‘pointless’ if they can’t overtake

Heading into the fourth race of the season in Qatar, Quartararo’s best result had been a lowly 10th in an attritional Grand Prix of Americas.

He now sits eighth in the riders’ championship and will be eyeing further improvements for the rest of the 2025 season.

Quartararo told Speedweek after the race that Yamaha’s biggest strength currently is effectively useless while they cannot overtake their rivals.

“But the way we’re driving at the moment, it’s difficult. Especially at the beginning of the race, the others were much faster, and they overtook me. Then we had no grip, no power, and a lot of wheelies.

“That makes it very difficult to prepare an overtaking manoeuvre and drive well. Our only strength is in the braking zones after the straights. But it’s pointless if we can’t overtake.”

READ MORE: Fabio Quartararo names the one thing Yamaha ‘can’t afford’ to do in their pursuit of MotoGP performance

Fabio Quartararo’s ‘toughest time’ at Yamaha came in early 2023

Although Quartararo’s lack of success may be frustrating by now, he is in a better position than he was during the 2023 season.

Back then, he told Crash that the team’s upgrades were useless and that they had no functional baseline for their bike.

“I think [we’re] in the toughest time I’ve been in at Yamaha right now because we cannot find a solution after 8 races because the sprints for me are races. And we have not any base, and any speed, I would say,” he said.

“We tried an exhaust, which was not working. Chassis is not working. Aero is not working. Electronics is not working. Maybe one setting that we tried with Öhlins was a little bit better. But from the test, the new things that we tried were useless.”