Fabio Quartararo's ordeal in Thailand

There is no doubt that Yamaha is improving. The Japanese manufacturer has fixed some of the major problems that have been holding back its M1 for more than two years, but the result of the Thailand Grand Prix does not highlight this progress. Jack Miller (11th) is the first rider equipped with a Yamaha at the finish of the first race of the season.

The Australian showed during the race that his machine has some potential. He was in 6th place for a long time, but collapsed in the final laps, as he already had the bad habit of doing at KTM. Problem: none of the other three Yamaha riders were in the top 10 to compensate for the slow death of Jack Miller's tires.

fabio quartararo, the leader of the factory team, had all the cards in hand to score big points by starting 10th. Having moved up to 7th place in the sprint race, the Nice native hoped to do as well, but he quickly understood that his Sunday would be less pleasant in the furnace of Buriram and its more than 35°C in the air.

ALSO READ > The championship standings after the Thailand Grand Prix

Quartararo handicapped by his tire

"I didn't expect it to be this difficult. We are analyzing what happened, especially in the first laps." he was trying to understand after the arrival at the microphone of Canal+. "We had a lot of trouble with the rear tyre, we didn't think it was going to be so complicated. I wanted to warm it up during the warm-up lap, but I couldn't even turn for the first two or three laps, it was really difficult."

Having trouble with his Michelin tire, the 2021 world champion quickly fell back in the hierarchy to 18th place. Through falls and retirements in front of him, Fabio Quartararo managed to grab the point for 15th place. Insufficient, certainly, worrying, not yet. "We're not going to worry about the first race, the pre-season tests didn't go too well here, the race isn't great either." tempers the Niçois. We will have to take stock after a few races, when we have seen what we managed to do in the next rounds. Right from the start of the race, we had problems with the lean, there was no grip. In this case, it often takes time to warm up the tires, but normally with this heat it should not have been the case.

Since the pre-season tests, Fabio Quartararo has been complaining about his tires, something that Yamaha has not yet managed to understand. With the help of the dealerships and the arrival of Pramac as a satellite team, the Japanese team may be able to solve the problem more quickly.

ALSO READ > Dream start to the season for Johann Zarco, fabulous in Thailand

🎙️ “It was quite difficult.”

A point scored but a complicated race for Fabio Quartararo in Thailand 🥵#ThaiGP | #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/9SNsC9nIp8

— CANAL+ MotoGP™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) March 2, 2025