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Eleventh in the morning and ninth in the afternoon, Fabio Quartararo ended the first day of track activity in Portimao averagely satisfied.
"It was a pretty positive day because we are in Q2 - his words - A bit like everyone else we have some things to review, but I think we have room for improvement in terms of our own performance. In general we are not bad, although we are still experimenting.As I know from this winter we have new engineers and together we are working a lot on electronics, an area where we need to strengthen. From today to tomorrow it is not possible to upset everything," he continued, pointing out the current limitations of his M1 not only in Portugal, but in general.
Asked if the change of teammate would benefit the evolution of the bike, the Yamaha rider replied, "Morbidelli was fast, however, Rins has a style more similar to mine, if it were not precisely for the electronics. This is a bit of a criticism, as he is the only one who rides a certain way, however in terms of competitiveness he is strong, especially on this track. I remember three years ago when we both fought for victory. So his contribution to development is crucial. How do our approaches differ? I don't want to go into details, however it's not just about traction control."
During the two sessions he was often seen confronting Julian Simon, now the data analysis officer in the garage of Yamaha. "We made the mistake of not trying the hard front, then they asked me to use it in the time attack, while everyone had fitted it in the long runs and then switched to the medium. I wanted to ask him his thoughts. In thee nd we opted, smartly, for the medium compound," he explained.
Unlike the competition on race weekends, the Japanese garage is something of a construction site. "It's like that because we don't have a solid base yet. We are gathering a lot of information. For example, in Qatar it became clear that the riding style required by this bike is very different from that of 2023. Therefore, time is needed to make progress."
Finally on the testing he will be involved in on Monday, he revealed, "We will test things we don't have here, because to do so now would have meant having to homologate them. This new commitment is very positive, it gives motivation to the team. In terms of mentality and responsiveness we are better off than in the past."
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