Quartararo desires “less emotion” in 2021 MotoGP approach

The incoming factory Yamaha rider won three times for Petronas SRT in 2020, but his title challenge crumbled after a disastrous run of races from the French Grand Prix through to the finale in Portugal, where he failed to reach the top six.

Having led for much of the campaign, Quartararo ended the year down in eighth in the standings and 44 points behind world champion Joan Mir. Frequently across the final rounds, Quartararo appeared visibly frustrated on the bike and in the garage as he struggled aboard his 2020-spec M1.

He thinks ironing this out ahead of his factory Yamaha team step will be “very important”, as so he can offer much clearer feedback on the bike’s issues to his crew than he was able to in 2020.

“I want to work on the emotional part, on the bike, in the box and outside the box, just to have less emotion,” said Quartararo. “I think it will be really important for next year. Also, to give better comments to my crew chief, to my engineers, because when you have high emotions you just say the bike is not working and you don’t know exactly which part.

“So, I think it will be very important this, but at the moment I feel I need to work on that.”

Quartararo says he already started to work in a calmer fashion over the remainder of the Portugal weekend, and has been working with a psychologist since the season concluded.

This is something Quartararo has admitted to doing before, following what he described earlier this year as the lowest point of his career after the 2018 Argentine Moto2 round, and again after his MotoGP debut in Qatar last year when he had to start from pitlane when he stalled his Yamaha having qualified fifth.

“On the emotions side, I’m starting to work already right now to be more calm and with less emotion as possible,” he said during the Portugal weekend. “But, of course, I plan to see a psychologist. I already go a few times, but I will go more often because I think small difference can make big changes.

“So, I will go with the psychologist again and work on that part because for me to touch small details with the team will be so important.”