On Friday afternoon, Fabio Quartararo had stated that he didn't need to ask Augusto Fernandez how the new V4 was doing, because all he needed to do was look at his face. The Spanish rider came in 19th at the checkered flag, and he may not have been particularly smiling once he returned to the Yamaha garage. But, in the post-Sprint analysis before the media, he tried to highlight the progress he had made.
"It was hard, but a bit better than yesterday. On Friday, I tried to focus less on the lap feedback and more on the sensations. We also made progress between Free Practice 2 and qualifying by intervening on the set-up. Then, before the Sprint, we made another change in the direction we took in Misano, and it was positive. When we have grip, the tire drop is the same as in San Marino. But, as soon as the degradation is higher, you can't make the bike work anymore, so we have to find a solution to make it work easier in all the laps and not only in some. In general, we're beginning to create a base and identify what to focus on," he explained, then he spoke about the the difficulties encountered yesterday.
"We were completely lost. Despite having the same set-up as Misano, the sensations weren't good. Today, with an even different set-up, the problem turned out to be the same, so it's something to analyze. However, we still have tomorrow, when it's going to be important to complete the twenty laps and figure out what to do. It's a slow process," he had admitted.
It seems as if they still have a long way to go before getting a complete and fully competitive bike. Nevertheless, the manufacturer doesn't seem to be planning to have second thoughts about retiring the four-cylinder. "My plan is to focus on the V4. I hope to be able to simplify the finding the set-up so that when the factory riders get on the bike on Tuesday for the Valencia test, they can work on a bike that's in order. The potential is there, but we have to find the key. Everything is wide open. But I believe this bike will improve. We don't have much time, but enough. During the Portimao round, I'll be testing in Aragon. Then there's the post Valencia testing, and then we'll be heading to 2026," he concluded.