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Fabio Quartararo sees no parallels between his current predicament and that of Francesco Bagnaia. The Italian is struggling to explain his dip in form, while his teammate Marc Marquez is flying on track.
Both Quartararo and Bagnaia are world champions, both are set to switch teams next season, and both are navigating a particularly challenging period in their careers. Quartararo, the last rider to win a title with Yamaha in 2021, will depart the only manufacturer he's raced for in MotoGP over the past eight years to lead Honda's project. Meanwhile, Bagnaia will leave Ducati, having become the most successful rider in the company's history with two titles and 31 wins, to join Aprilia, where he will partner with his friend Marco Bezzecchi.
With eight rounds remaining before he dons the red leathers for the last time, Bagnaia sits ninth in the overall standings, having secured four consecutive podium finishes. In contrast, Quartararo is 15th, with less than half of the Italian's points and no podiums this season.
In fact, his last top-three finish on a Sunday was at Jerez last year, and it was his only one. The Frenchman, known as El Diablo, is Yamaha's highest-ranked rider with 61 points – more than double that of the next rider, Jack Miller, who has 28.
Meanwhile, both Marquez brothers and Fabio Di Giannantonio are ahead of Bagnaia in the standings. The comparison with the reigning champion is particularly striking; he topped the Misano standings and has scored more points in the last six rounds (166) than the number 63 rider has accumulated all season so far (143).
Quartararo's repeated criticisms of the M1 bike – whether concerning the previous inline-four engine specification or the new V4 version – have significantly escalated tensions between Yamaha and the Nice-born rider in recent weeks.
This tension became particularly evident after the number 20 rider's complaints when Yamaha denied him participation in next Monday's test at the Red Bull Ring, where the 2027 Pirelli tires will be used. Bagnaia, for his part, has been searching for months for an explanation for the lack of feel he's experiencing with his Ducati.
Asked on Thursday at the Red Bull Ring if he saw any similarities between his situation and Bagnaia's, Quartararo responded that the two cases were completely different.
"Because Marc is winning," he explained. "If Alex Rins, Jack, or Toprak Razgatlioglu were winning, I myself would be in a bad situation. But it depends on many things. Ultimately, I don't know what the relationship is between Pecco and Ducati."
"But in my personal opinion, if I were in his shoes and my teammate was winning, I'd be furious and trying to understand why I couldn't do the same."
Quartararo stated that he anticipates another challenging weekend, especially if rain is forecast, due to his bike's weaknesses in terms of grip.
"Rain is not good at all, because the lack of grip we have is even worse in the wet, so it won't be an advantage for us if it rains," he said.
"If it rains on a track like in Indonesia, where the surface has very good grip, it might be relatively okay. But in these conditions, we are missing a lot, especially braking grip to be able to lean quickly; there are many elements on this track that we need, and we are lacking them."
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