The Barcelona circuit was predicted by Quartararo to be a tricky track for the Yamaha given the track’s long pit straight and the bike’s lack of power.
The Catalan GP venue is also notoriously low grip, conditions the Yamaha typically struggles in, with Quartararo only eighth fastest and around seven tenths off the pace after a hot Friday practice.
Quartararo says he feels he is riding well, but is just slow right now.
“We hope, because we know that we struggle without grip,” he said when asked if he was anticipating the track to rubber in more on Saturday.
“We know Aprilia with low grip they go super-fast. But for us we struggle.
“Even on the race pace I was doing six, seven tenths slower than Aleix.
“On this track you can feel if you are going slow or not, and I feel slow but I feel like I could not go faster because Turns 3, 4, 9 you open the throttle and you spin.
“I felt I was riding really good, but just super slow.”
When asked if he was worried about high tyre consumption, Quartararo added: “It’s not because you spin more that you have tyre consumption.
“The problem now is the tyre drops and we are slow.
“So, I am not worried about the tyre consumption, but more worried I feel super slow and I think a lot of riders will feel the same.
“It’s tough to really see your potential when there is such bad conditions on track.”
Quartararo – who signed a new two-year Yamaha deal ahead of this weekend’s Catalan GP – believes Friday pacesetter Aleix Espargaro is the only strong rider on track right now and admits he would be facing a damage limitation race if the grand prix was now.
“If the race is now, it will be damage limitation, but we know that in this track the more rubber you put down the more grip you have,” he said.
“So, I hope we can put down a lot of grip during the weekend and we know it’s not going to rain, so every day putting rubber on the track and I hope Sunday arrives where we can make a massive improvement on the pace because right now I think only Aleix can really make a really fast pace.
“He’s just five tenths faster, he’s dropping also but he’s still five tenths faster. But for us it drops a lot.”
