Quartararo Baffled: 'Like First Time on a Bike' at Silverstone

Fabio Quartararo felt like 'a guy who jumped on a motorcycle for the first time' as he struggled to 17th place in Friday practice at Silverstone. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider ended up 0.6s behind Pramac's Jack Miller, who secured direct Q2 access in ninth.

“Bad. Not a great feeling at all. I'm struggling a lot to ride like I want, and I'm really tense on the bike, so not feeling good,” Quartararo said. “This morning I had an issue with the bike, then I had to stop. But in general it's not really frustrating, but just that I'm not able to ride. I'm like a guy that jumped on a motorcycle for the first time.”

This result is a blow for Quartararo, who nearly won at this circuit last season but for a ride-height device failure. Miller's pace offered some encouragement, but the former world champion insisted his priority is understanding the M1.

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“Jack was fast today, but it was not really a matter of getting to the limit. 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. So we will try to make a big change for tomorrow and try to understand why we were so bad today,” he explained.

Quartararo also highlighted Silverstone's demanding nature, requiring trail braking and corner speed—two areas where he currently struggles. “I was not able to lean, I was not able to make corner speed. In this track that is exactly what you need, and I was super slow,” he added.

He wasn't the only Yamaha rider to struggle: teammate Alex Rins finished 19th, Toprak Razgatlioglu 22nd, and wildcard Augusto Fernandez last. This suggests a fundamental issue with the bike rather than just one rider.

With only one session left before qualifying, pressure mounts on Quartararo and Yamaha to find a fix. If not, hopes of a strong home result could turn into a nightmare. Can Yamaha bounce back? We'll see this weekend.