Fabio Quartararo saw half of his 13.2-second gap to race leader Jorge Martin shrink during the opening laps of Sunday’s Indonesian Grand Prix.

The Monster Yamaha rider faced difficulties in generating heat in his rear tire, leaving him trailing Martin by 6.7 seconds after just four laps. This early setback caused Quartararo to drop from sixth to 13th place, despite four riders crashing ahead of him.

However, once he found his rhythm, Quartararo climbed back up the order, finishing in seventh place, equaling his best result of the season. In the final laps, he lost only 0.8 seconds to Martin. Reflecting on the race, Quartararo felt that without the early setback, he could have been in contention with Francesco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, and Marco Bezzecchi for the final podium spot.

“I lost 7-8 positions in the opening laps because it took us more than 4-5 laps to warm up the rear medium tire all weekend,” Quartararo explained. “I had the speed, but the main issue was getting the tire warmed up. Once I did, I was able to match Bezzecchi’s pace. But losing six seconds early on meant I was stuck in 13th. We’re still a bit slower than the others, but today was much closer to Morbidelli and Bagnaia. Beyond the position, what we need to focus on is how fast we’re going.”

After struggling to overtake in the Sprint, switching from soft to hard front tire for the main race allowed him to brake later and make more overtakes. A few mistakes from other riders helped him secure a seventh-place finish, out of just 12 riders who crossed the finish line, matching his best result of the season for the third consecutive time.

Even with the early struggles, Quartararo ended up much closer to the win than in previous races at Emilia Romagna and San Marino. “We had the speed today, but we’re still missing a lot to be truly satisfied,” said Quartararo. “But overall, it was a good day... We put in some strong laps.”