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Future Petronas Yamaha team-mates Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi were both at the sharp end in the French Grand Prix’s fourth free practice session, which is dedicated to race pace simulations, yet were left to rue qualifying on the fourth row.
At a track that has traditionally been a strong one for the Yamaha M1 and coming off the back of a strong showing last time out in Barcelona (even if it did end with a crash out of the battle for the lead), Rossi acknowledged he needed to have placed higher up on the grid.
“I’m not happy about my 10th position,” the factory Yamaha rider said. “I have to do better, because my pace is better. When you start from 10th in MotoGP in the modern era you never know where you can arrive, but we have to try.
“The qualifying was a bit difficult, a bit tricky. In the end on the last lap I was not so bad, but I made a mistake. If not, I could have started from a bit more towards the front. Starting from 10th is difficult, for sure, but the feeling with the bike is not so bad.
“We have to work this evening because we have something to fix. The bike is a little too nervous in acceleration and we need to fix that.
“But apart from that my pace is good, and I’m feeling quite strong. The race is long, so we’ll need to start strongly from the beginning, give the maximum for 27 laps, and see where I can arrive at the end.”
Rossi is more optimistic than his protege Morbidelli, who starts one place behind him in 11th. Well aware that the Yamaha’s great weakness at the minute is their ability to carve through the pack thanks to the way the bike overloads the front tyre and drives up both pressure and temperature, Morbidelli says tomorrow’s race will be a “nightmare” for them.
“I’m very worried about overtaking,” he admitted, “it’s going to be super difficult – I already know it’s going to be a nightmare. Our strong points are useless when we’re in the group, and it’s going to be the hardest race of the year since Austria 1. But we’re here to fight and we’ll try to give our maximum and give the best we can.”
That’s a consequence of a poor qualifying of his own, with the Italian admitting that he never got the feeling he wanted from the tyres when he exited the pits for a second time.
“I’m very disappointed because I thought I was fast – and I was, because my first time was only two tenths from Fabio [Quartararo] and he had a reference in front of him [in the form of Maverick Vinales] while I was alone so that’s acceptable,” Morbidelli explained.
“But when I went for the second time attack, the feeling with the bike was worse, everyone else improved and I started to fall down the chart. I couldn’t attack like I wanted to and also I didn’t improve my laptime. 11th is not what I was expecting, it’s not what I wanted, but we will try to have a good race tomorrow.
“Our pace is really strong, so we will try to move through the pack as much as we can, although overtaking will be difficult, and see where we are at the chequered flag. It is what it is and I’ll try to get the maximum tomorrow.”
Indeed, one Yamaha rider who is more content with his performance is Morbidelli’s team-mate and championship leader Quartararo, who took his third pole position of the season at his home race to line up alongside the Ducati pairing of Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci.
“We just need to think about doing our best and getting in front,” he admitted, knowing the potential of the Ducatis when the lights go out and how hard to pass they can be.
“I’m actually really good in the first sector so I’ll do my best to have a good first corner and good first sector, and to just try and enjoy it. We have a great pace to fight for the podium and the victory, and I’m going to stay calm and do my best.”
