Quartararo won four of the first nine races of the 2021 season and is 34 points ahead of the overall standings during the championship summer break.
The Frenchman has already surpassed his three wins in 2020 and improved his overall podium record to six with two-thirds in France and Germany.
After an extremely inconsistent 2020 on an M1 that Quartararo admitted never felt like his machine, Yamaha improved the bike over the winter, especially the front end.
However, Quartararo says that he had to change his driving style to something that was not “natural” for him.
“I think every rider has to adapt to his bike,” said Quartararo in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.
“I’m driving differently than last year, it’s not really natural, but it works well.
“I can feel the limit, I can drive really fast and at the moment I think it’s going great.
“It was the same in 2019 and at the moment I feel super focused and concentrated on the bike. So it’s going pretty well. “
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Dorna
When asked how his driving style isn’t natural, he added, “Usually I’m more of the driver who drives super fast in cornering speeds, and right now I’m trying to be a bit more animal and trying to brake super late to drive a little differently.
“To like [there were] Bends in Germany where I could go faster but I was only thinking of the bike when I wasn’t going faster so I have to find another way to think more about the exit and that.
“It happens on some tracks, so it’s not entirely natural, but you have to adapt.
“So if you are slower in one corner, you are faster in another.
“So it’s not natural and easy, but if you understand the bike, it goes fast and you go easy and faster.”
Looking at the first half of his entire season, Quartararo believes Yamaha have been “quick in all circumstances” – the only negative points so far.
“Yeah, it was really a great season,” he said
“Unfortunately we had problems with the arm and the leather in Jerez and Barcelona.
“But we were quick under all circumstances and even if we had problems in Germany or in the wet at Le Mans, we could fight for podium places.
“When I talk about the start of the season, I’m really happy.”
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