MotoGP, Bastianini: "Qualifying is my problem. Vinales rode a special bike"

Twelfth at the finish line Enea Bastianini made an effort to look at the positive things that had emerged from the Sunday race. While admitting that he arrived in Qatar with other expectations, the Italian preferred to be satisfied about the pace shown.

"I expected something more, but I struggled in overtaking. It's too bad, because otherwise, alone my pace was good even if in the left-hand corners I was sliding a lot with the rear and I couldn't accelerate. On the contrary in the right ones I had a good pace so I could have fought it out for a position further ahead and instead I was forced to stay behind. Later I made a mistake when trying to overtake Marini and went outside, so I had to rebuild everything," he revealed.

Several points to work on for the near future. "To date, qualifying is slowing me down a lot, so as a result I will have to improve it to avoid having more mediocre races. Another aspect in which we still lack a little is the set-up. In any case from Friday to Sunday we made progress as a team and Vinales' performance is proof of that. So I am sure that we can be fast," he said before dwelling precisely on what Maverick did in Lusail.

"He is using a different bike from ours, but they cannot say more because we are not allowed to use it. That doesn't take anything away from the fact that part of the credit for today's result is his. He was fast and adapted right away," he acknowledged.

When asked about the morale with which he will leave Qatar, the KTM Tech3 rider said, "I would say good because we improved as we went along and I was fast. I don't know if we will suffer the vibrations in Jerez as well, if not that could be a good opportunity to do well."