Fabio Quartararo had a rough start to the 2025 season, and he blames his struggles on a serious lack of grip with his Yamaha from the very beginning.

Even though Yamaha seemed strong during pre-season testing, many expected the team to perform well in Buriram. However, things didn’t go as planned. While Jack Miller from Pramac impressed in qualifying, Quartararo, on the other hand, had a much tougher time.

The French rider placed his factory Yamaha M1 in 10th during qualifying and managed to climb up to seventh in the sprint race, but he dropped down to 15th in the main race. From the start, he struggled with grip and couldn’t keep up.

Quartararo explained in an interview that his problems started right away. Initially, he thought it was just a matter of warming up the tyres, but the issue turned out to be more serious.

“From the beginning, we had a grip problem,” he said. “At first, I thought the tyres just needed warming up. But in the end, we checked and saw that on the first lap, I couldn’t push. I couldn’t lean the bike—it was just sliding. I lost a lot of positions and couldn’t have a good race.”

Tyre Problems

Even before the season started, Quartararo wasn’t happy with the front tyres Michelin brought to Buriram. The rear tyre casing also made things much harder.

For the main race, he had to use the hard tyre because the soft one didn’t match his braking style.

“The soft front collapses, and even with the hard, I was already struggling,” he said. “The rear tyre didn’t help either. The soft should have worked better in the beginning, but it didn’t.”

Problems Ahead

Yamaha’s biggest issue—lack of rear grip—could cause more trouble at the upcoming Argentina Grand Prix. The Termas de Río Hondo circuit is usually quite dirty, making grip even harder to find.

Still, Quartararo has some hope. The standard rear tyre casing will be back for the Argentina race, which he believes could make a difference.

“It’s going to be tough for us,” he admitted. “Low grip conditions are difficult for us right now, but let’s see with different tyres. I think the standard casing will help us.”

With Yamaha still searching for answers, all eyes will be on Quartararo in Argentina to see if the team can bounce back.