Quartararo ‘leaves Jerez drama behind’, slow corners ‘a worry’

The recent Jerez round was Quartararo’s lowest scoring of the year so far, a career worst 16th in qualifying being followed by a 'pointless' twelfth in the Sprint, then tenth place - after two Long Lap penalties - in the Sunday race.

“I expected better results when I arrived in Jerez, so I‘m now looking forward to a rematch in Le Mans this weekend,” Quartararo said. “We have left all the drama of the last race weekend behind us: I prefer to focus on the work we have to do and the goals that we want to achieve.”

“It‘s my home GP, so I‘m looking forward to seeing and hearing the fans. I want to keep a positive mindset, do my best, and hopefully get some good results.”

Penalty controversy aside, Quartararo spent the post-race Jerez test trying new chassis, aero and exhaust parts for his M1. While there was no clear improvement, the chassis (and perhaps exhaust) could be tried again at Le Mans.

But the succession of slow corners onto long straights means Quartararo fears the M1’s lack of engine power and acceleration could be punished this weekend.

“We need improvement everywhere… more power and more downforce, especially on this kind of [slow] corner, to use more power and less wheelie, that is the limitation,” he said.

“Like in Austin, [where] also the top speed was really difficult because we were coming [onto the straights] out of really slow corners.

“In first gear you need more downforce to be able to use more power… but we cannot use the big wing because we lose too much in the top speed. Every problem is having several [related] difficulties.”

Asked specifically if that was a worry for Le Mans, Quartararo replied: “Basically, yes. It’s a point where we need to improve: Slow corners onto the straight. The limitation is power.”

But the notorious French weather may yet play into Quartararo and Yamaha’s hands, even if it could disrupt the re-testing of parts.

“We were able to try some items and settings at the Jerez Test. Ideally, we also want to try them here, but the weather forecasts so far predict we might have multiple wet sessions this weekend,” said team director Massimo Meregalli.

“Our pace was good in the wet at the Portuguese and Argentina GP earlier this season, so we will make sure to be ready either way. This is a very important race weekend for Fabio. The French fans wholeheartedly support him, and that will give us all an extra boost to give it our best shot and show our true potential.”

Team-mate Franco Morbidelli is at least a closer match for Quartararo than last season, starting round five one place behind the 2021 world champion, in twelfth overall.

“The Jerez Test was interesting for us, so I‘m curious to see if the things we found will also work in Le Mans,” said the Italian. “A dry weekend would be good for us in order to cross-check the data. But should it rain, that too could be interesting.

“I felt confident in the wet, especially in Argentina, so I‘m curious to see if in those conditions we can do a good job again. Either way, we want to avoid starting from too far back on the grid, so that‘s what we‘ll work on right from P1 on Friday.”

Quartararo qualified and finished fourth at Le Mans last year, enough to retain the world championship lead, with Morbidelli 15th.