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Once again, Fabio Quartararo can’t be satisfied with how his Saturday went. Starting 13th on the grid, the Yamaha rider finished 14th in the Sprint race, dropping back after an early stage in which he tried to stay close to the Top 10. “Qualifying and the race didn’t go well. When I think about how I felt last year and how I feel this year, I’m riding very tensely. I can’t ride the bike smoothly, and I don’t feel comfortable at all. But, to be honest, that’s kind of what I expected,” the rider from Nice said, summing up his Saturday. Although it wasn’t the only problem he faced, Quartararo—like most of the riders on the grid—also struggled with significant rear-tire wear. “Tire wear was a bit high, partly because I pushed as hard as I could throughout the race. Moreira and Marini overtook me on the straight, and I tried to stay ahead, but the tire wear was pretty severe. “I think it’ll di better with the medium,” he commented. “Besides the tires, is there anything that makes me feel confident about tomorrow? Nothing. This is a track where, if you can’t feel the front and rear working together in the fast corners, it means you’re really struggling. I know we don’t have what I need here, but I don’t want to change the bike’s set-up every time, because we do it all the time and, in the end, we always end up back at square one. So, tomorrow I’ll simply put the medium tire on the rear and try to maximize the result.” Unlike his teammate Jack Miller, El Diablo never even considered the idea of tackling the Sprint race with a medium tire on the rear. “No, because, to be honest, it was almost impossible to finish in the points today. So I wanted to take a chance on the soft tire,” he explained. “I knew Jack was starting on the medium, but, if you start on a harder tire than the others, and you already know you have less grip, it’s certainly impossible to score points. I gave it my all today, but it wasn’t enough.” Quartararo concluded his analysis by offering a possible explanation for the nosedive the Ducati riders experienced after the first few laps. “Rather than tire wear, I think it’s because they overheat the tire fairly quickly. “When you have more grip, you can be more aggressive with the throttle and keep the temperature a bit lower,” he noted. “I think this is precisely where Aprilia is stronger than anyone else. I believe they're able to keep the rear tire temperature lower, allowing them to maintain a high pace for longer.”