Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Quartararo saw Jack Miller come out very strong at Friday practice, and explained how it helped him at the German Grand Prix.
Quartararo managed to earn his second-best finish of the season at Sachsenring, ending the German Grand Prix in seventh place.
The French rider has not had it easy with Yamaha this season, having struggled to get the most out of their 2026 bike.
Did Yamaha make a mistake re-signing Fabio Quartararo in 2024?
Coming into the weekend, Yamaha had Jack Miller test their new upgrade at the first practice session ahead of the German Grand Prix.
And this test from Jack Miller allowed Fabio Quartararo to get a better understanding of the upgrade heading into the race on Sunday.
READ MORE: Yamaha should let Fabio Quartararo join Honda mid-season before he does more damage
Fabio Quartararo explains how Jack Miller helped him ‘understand’ Yamaha’s 2026 bike
Speaking to GPOne and other outlets after the German Grand Prix, Fabio Quartararo responded to Jack Miller’s test of the new Yamaha swingarm upgrade.
Quartararo claimed that he didn’t get inspired by Miller’s performance, but he was able to learn things that helped him adjust his set-up heading into the race on Sunday.
“No, it’s not a question of motivation. It helped me understand a few things. Already on Friday, I wanted to use the setup I raced with today, but the team wanted to try something different, the one we’d used in Assen.
“On Saturday morning, we went back to the setup I wanted, and I went faster. So obviously, on Friday, something wasn’t working.
“But it was interesting to see Jack go fast with that bike, especially because, in the end, we ride quite similarly.”
READ MORE: Jack Miller has shown his true colours after losing Pramac MotoGP seat for 2027
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Fabio Quartararo hoping to close Yamaha chapter on a strong note
Quartararo is going to join Honda next season, meaning that his tenure with Yamaha will end at the end of this season.
While he had initially hoped to end his time with the team in a competitive fashion, Quartararo conceded Yamaha are too focused on 2027 as of now, and they are not looking to improve their 2026 bike any time soon.
Given how frustrated Quartararo has been with Yamaha’s 2026 bike, he will be hoping the end of this season comes as soon as possible.
Heading to Honda, the Frenchman will have a chance to be more competitive in the championship mix under the new ruleset.
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