Looking ahead to the Spanish Grand Prix that is taking place in Jerez this weekend, Franco Morbidelli is 15th overall despite the experience gained and a knee that no longer seems to limit him. For the Italian-Brazilian driver, his results continue to be disappointing with only one top 10, achieved in the rain at Mandalika at the start of the season.
“This bike is more powerful than my old bike, and it has more potential when it comes to braking,” Morbidelli explained. “But I still have to figure out how to carry it properly to be fast.”
Since his arrival in the official team, Franco Morbidelli has struggled to catch up with his teammate, Fabio Quartararo.
“If we make a comparison with Fabio [Quartararo], in the first race we were at the same level, in the race my time was better than his, we had a similar pace [but] I had a bad start. I feel like we did the right thing the most of the time and we will give our best even though we haven’t been able to show it yet”.
Morbidelli has not yet had that click with a prototype that, for the moment, is only capable of shining at the controls of Quartararo. However, he admits that he knows “the sensations that the bike must give” and the behavior that it must “have to work”.
“My feelings are not that different from the bike I had in 2019, 2020 or 2021. It seems to be the same bike, just a little faster on the straights, so we have to believe in my feeling and keep working to find the correct road”.
However, Morbidelli is lucky to be free of the pressure as he is one of the few drivers on the grid who already has a contract for the 2023 season: “I am not at the level of performance of my partner, who wins races. I am supposed to be at their level because now I have everything”.
“I have the team, I have the bike, I have the means, but it’s not like that. The factory could panic or push in a certain way, and it’s not the case when it comes to me because I have a year on my contract.” the Italian-Brazilian.
