Vinales was behind Quartararo in the early stages of the season opener on Sunday at Losail, but at the end of the opening lap managed to go from sixth to four Ducatis and Quartararo to take the win.
Quartararo faded from the podium battle to fifth when the checkered flag hit a drop in rear tire grip that he hadn’t seen at all with the Yamaha in 2021.
The Frenchman saw his urge to come back in front of Ducati’s Jack Miller in the end, and Alex Rins’ Suzuki to save fifth place came from his “experience” of difficult days during his 2020 season.
“Actually I felt so strong from the start and as soon as I passed Jack I was able to catch Johann [Zarco] so fast, ”he explained.
“But I could feel a big drop on the rear tire that I wasn’t expecting because I didn’t have any drop on the rear tire in the exercises test.
“And today it was a total disaster. When Maverick passed me, he was in a different league and had a lot more grip than us.
“In the end I was able to overtake Rins and Miller because I ended up driving differently.
“It is the experience from last year that on a day that is not great for us, P5 is exactly what we need to do.
“On a tough day at the end of the year, getting that result will help.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo is unable to explain his tire drop as he doesn’t feel like he’s been driving hard and is “really curious” to check Vinales’ data to see why he didn’t have the same problems.
“In all fairness my riding – even when I passed Jack – was smooth,” he added.
“I didn’t burn the tire like hell trying to overtake it. I felt great, made great cornering speed and only the tire had a big drop.
“So I don’t understand.
“When I saw Maverick passing me I had problems but I saw that he was pushing quite a bit with the tire.
“I say ‘OK, maybe he’ll have a drop a little later’.
“But every time we had more and more drops, I luckily had a great feeling at the front and was able to manage the lap time in a different way.
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“I find it more physical [the bike] because I’ve never shivered like I do today. I lacked grip, the bike was so aggressive and shook a lot.
“In order to, [it’s] strange and I wonder how Maverick does the first few laps when he’s smoother than us. But I had the feeling that I was driving so calmly at the beginning.
“I’m talking to Valentino [Rossi] and he had the same drop as me. So it’s a pretty strange situation, I’m really curious. “