Fabio Quartararo has recently attributed Yamaha's improvement in performance to an adjustment in the bike’s electronics, which now gave the riders greater control over the throttle.

During last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, both Quartararo and his teammate Alex Rins managed to qualify in the top 10 for the first time this season. Quartararo secured a sixth-place finish on Sunday, wrapping up the triple-header quite nicely, aside from the disappointment in Japan.

Both riders highlighted advancements in the bike’s electronics as a key factor in their recent progress.

"I’m now much more like the traction control," Quartararo joked after Saturday’s qualifying session. "We’ve made significant changes to the electronics."

When Quartararo was asked if riding the bike now feels more similar to handling the 2021 bike, he clarified: “Not exactly, but it’s somewhat similar. I have to manage the throttle much more, and it’s harder to ride the bike. But with that comes improved performance, which is what we’re aiming for.”

He added, “It’s more challenging to use the throttle optimally and extract the best performance, but I think we’ve made good progress in a short amount of time.”

Alex Rins echoed these statements after achieving his best points haul of the season, finishing eighth on Sunday. “I feel like I have the bike more under my control, and that’s really crucial for me,” he said. “I learned to manage spin and lift the bike better on the Suzuki, so riding this way felt good.”

Yamaha, which is taking advantage of certain upgrades to regain its competitive edge lost over the last two years, also introduced a new engine in Malaysia. Quartararo, however, couldn’t use it in the race as his engine broke down during practice. Additionally, he had to rely on his spare bike for the grand prix restart. Meanwhile, Rins successfully used the new engine.

“In terms of power and top speed, it’s about the same,” Rins explained, “but it does work a bit better with the electronics. On Saturday morning, we tested an electronics strategy we’d tried with this engine at Misano, and that good feeling came back.”

Quartararo reflected positively on the Asian part of the season. “We can take positives from all the flyaway circuits," he said. "Japan was one of our weakest races, but our pace was strong in Australia, and we did well in both wet and dry conditions in Thailand. Here in Malaysia, we were fast too. We can feel good about how we’re ending the season, and now we have a better sense of where we stand compared to the summer in Barcelona.”

He also expressed anticipation for the post-season test, which has been moved to Barcelona from Valencia, noting Yamaha’s need for improvement there. “Barcelona is a great choice for the test,” Quartararo said. “It’s been a tough track for us over the past two years due to the low grip, which is our biggest weakness. The test there will be very useful.”