QUARTARARO SAYS SILVERSTONE PRACTICE FELT LIKE HIS FIRST TIME ON A BIKE
7 Aug·
Fabio Quartararo described Friday practice at Silverstone as feeling “like a guy that jumped on a motorcycle for the first time” after he could only manage 17th. The former champion said the day left him “baffled” by the way he was able to ride, adding: “Bad. Not a great feeling at all.” Quartararo explained that he was “struggling a lot to ride like I want,” and that he felt “really tense on the bike,” which prevented him from finding the confidence and rhythm he needed.
He also referenced an early problem with the machine, saying: “This morning I had an issue with the bike, then I had to stop.” While he didn’t frame that as the main emotional driver, he stressed that the bigger issue was his inability to execute properly. “I’m like a guy that jumped on a motorcycle for the first time. So this is how I feel. Let’s try to change, but it was really a tough day for us.”
Quartararo’s comments came alongside encouraging context from within the Yamaha camp: Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller was quickest enough to secure direct access to Qualifying 2, finishing Friday practice in ninth and setting a pace Quartararo said he could not match. “Jack was fast today, but it was not really a matter of getting to the limit,” Quartararo said. “I was not able to go to the limit because I was riding in a way that looks like I was just trying to understand how the bike is working.”
He pinpointed what he felt was missing on a track that demands commitment. “Like I said, it looks like it was the first time I jumped on the bike and I was not able to lean, I was not able to make corner speed.” Quartararo added that Silverstone specifically requires strong braking technique and speed through corners: “In this track that is exactly what you need, trail braking and corner speed, and I was super slow.”
Looking ahead, Quartararo said the team would focus on making “a big change for tomorrow” to understand why Friday had gone so badly. The struggles weren’t limited to him: Alex Rins ended 19th, Toprak Razgatlioglu 22nd, and wildcard Augusto Fernandez 23rd and last.