Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Quartararo dropped like a stone in Saturday’s MotoGP sprint after an encouraging qualifying session at Mugello.
The Frenchman’s Yamaha bike even set an all-time record at one stage in Q2, before it was beaten by three of his rivals on a Ducati bike.
On a positive note, it’s a return to form over one lap for Quartararo, who struggled at the last round in Aragon for speed.
With 13 more MotoGP events to go this year, there is plenty of time for improvement, but at some tracks, the cutting edge is clearly there. They just need to find the edge more often.
Quartararo was warned about his Italian Grand Prix injury after having his shoulder popped back into place during Practice, before heading straight back on track.
Before arriving in Italy, Quartararo feared Yamaha would ‘get lost’ at Mugello amid problems with chatter on their bike.
READ MORE: Fabio Quartararo complains about ‘dangerous’ problem with his Yamaha at the Aragon Grand Prix
Fabio Quartararo reveals Yamaha’s main ‘problem’ at the Italian Grand Prix
Quartararo sent Yamaha an ominous ‘ready’ warning that he will not hesitate to leave the manufacturer if he loses faith in their vision for the future.
He has been one of the most loyal and patient riders on the grid through so many years of toil. A win at the British Grand Prix would have been an acceptable reward, but reliability let him down.
Speaking at the Italian Grand Prix, the 26-year-old shared how he showed so much pace in qualifying, but dropped off in the sprint.
“We do good qualifications, but the problem, I think, is that we qualify much better than the real performance of the bike,” he told the Italian edition of Motorsport.com.
“So when I leave with Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez or Pecco Bagnaia in front, I can’t follow them. It is clear that we know that we are still far behind them. But I don’t know if those two laps in which I push more will lead to all these problems.”
How has Fabio Quartararo fared so far during the 2025 MotoGP season?
Quartararo’s first five races of the season saw him improve at every single event, ending with a second place at Jerez.
At Silverstone, he should have made it six improvements in a row by taking victory, but his ride height device failed in agonising fashion.
Since then, he has suffered two more retirements, meaning he has dropped from seventh to 10th in the standings.
There’s still a lot of racing ahead in 2025, but he needs Yamaha to adapt their bike, remove any chatter and they may be able to show a little more pace on a Sunday.
Until then, they seem consigned to the lower half of the top 10 on a regular basis.
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