Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez had two completely different weekends at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Ducati rider continued his dominance in 2025 while the Yamaha star struggled at the back.
No Yamaha rider made it into Q2, with Quartararo managing the best result for the Japanese manufacturer in 16th. Meanwhile, Marquez missed out on the front row on the grid as he settled for P4.
The Spaniard was pushing to improve his time in the closing stages before Marquez crashed at turn three, leaving him behind Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez and Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia.
Bagnaia claimed Marquez would lead by turn one at the Austrian Grand Prix. While he was not entirely correct with his defeatist comments, the 32-year-old did claim another Sprint and race win as he extended his lead in the championship to 142 points.
Fabio Quartararo in awe of ‘super-fine’ Marc Marquez after watching him in qualifying in Austria
Quartararo was forced to watch Q2 from the sidelines as he struggled for pace at the Red Bull Ring. The Yamaha rider kept a close eye on Marquez during the final part of qualifying, and was left hugely impressed with the championship leader.
The pair were seen having a chat during the riders’ parade via DAZN, where Quartararo expressed how in awe he was of Marquez’s lap.
The Frenchman said: “What I liked most: qualifying. It starts, second sector, +0.1. And I say ‘nooo!'” to which Marquez replied: “With the fairing like that…
“I immediately say: ‘you see!’ Sector 3,” Quartararo said. Marquez then explained how he overcame an issue with the fairing on his GP25: “No, because in sector 3 I hit the fairing. I went into Turn 6 and noticed, and I cut out.”
The 2021 MotoGP champion ended the exchange by telling Marquez: “But a super-fine qualifying session, man… wow.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Quartararo from net worth to career stats
Fabio Quartararo had a disastrous weekend in Austria with Yamaha
Marquez will find it hard to understand not winning with Ducati after claiming his sixth win in a row in Austria. He is edging closer to his seventh MotoGP title, while Quartararo is left wondering what went so wrong for Yamaha.
The Frenchman managed to climb to 11th in the Sprint race, but Sunday was a total disaster for Yamaha. The manufacturer scored just one point as Quartararo came home in P15.
The Yamahas were the bottom four bikes on the grid as they struggled for pace all weekend. Jack Miller suffered a ‘mad’ problem as he could not find any traction on his YZR-M1.
Quartararo has proven that Yamaha are undeniably far behind where they want to be. They will hope that Balaton Park will bring a change of fortune.
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