The World Championship leader could only be seventh at the end of the first day of the German Grand Prix , in which Pecco Bagnaia was the fastest driver on asphalt. As happened in Barcelona two weeks ago, the Yamaha rider suffered grip problems with the rear tire, but that time he recovered performance as the sessions went on, until he achieved victory on Sunday with a great difference at the finish line.
The sole tire supplier has brought different compounds to Germany than last year, now being the hard option which in 2020 was the average.
“It wasn’t bad, but I had the feeling that it was a used tyre,” Fabio Quartararo said of the hard rear option.
“Our consistency was pretty good. I could do 21 mids, but compared to the top guys, they could roll 20 highs and 21 lows, while I wasn’t able to,” he said. “In terms of performance, at first I didn’t feel anything positive.”
“That’s why I didn’t like it very much. [It felt] like a used tyre, basically. I came out with a new hard tire and it was like it didn’t perform anymore,” he lamented.
Like the rest of the majority of drivers, Quartararo rode a soft compound to find the time in FP2.
“When I switched to the soft, the difference was very big and it was, I wouldn’t say difficult to make a good time attack, but the first lap was 20.6, then I was able to do two laps in 20.4 (his best time was 1.20.399)” .
“So I could do a little bit better, but when you come from a hard and go to a soft that is much softer, the difference is too big,” he said.
Last year, in Germany, the medium compound was the majority option for the race, something that could be repeated this weekend.
“For me, yes. I’ve only tried it in the morning, but I did 24 laps, and it wasn’t bad. But the thing is that there may be more performance with the medium,” he said.
“But the issue is that the drop is bigger, so we have to find a solution because I remember that in Barcelona on the first day I was struggling a lot with the grip, and then it got better every day.”
“So hopefully tomorrow will be the same and we’ll get better. When the grip is low it’s harder for us, so hopefully the grip will improve and we can lower the times.”
This Friday Pol Espargaró, who suffered a very hard fall, revealed that he went to the ground with a preheated tire. Quartararo, for his part, said that the rear hard tire he used this Friday was also preheated, but the medium he felt better on was also preheated, so he is not convinced that this is the main problem.
“This morning’s medium was also preheated, and I don’t think it was a big change. Hopefully it was a problem with the preheated tire, but I don’t think that was the issue. I was preheated since Barcelona, I think,” settled the Frenchman.
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
