The tricky dam🅷p conditions meant Quartararo was unable to use the kerbs to carry corner speed on his underpowered Yamaha, leaving him just 0.347s from pole position but with six Ducatis and an Aprilia ahead 🍎of him.

The only good news for the Frenchman was that the Aprilia rider was Maverick Vina🎀les, rather than nearest title rival Aleix Espargaro, who wil♐l start one place behind Quartararo in ninth.

But Francesco Bagnaia, fast closi🍰ng on the pair after winning the last three races, was able to diminish the significance of his three-place grid penalty by qualifying second to team-mate Jack Miller.

That means, instead of♍ taking maximum benefit from the factory Ducati rider’s grid penalty, as Quartararo had hoped, he starts already one row behind him.

Add in that it’s tough to pass on the M1, which is also prone to front tyre issues when trapped behind other machines, and Quartararo’s first ☂priority is on delivering a ‘great first lap’.

Quartararo ‘starting to have much less fun’

“It was the maximum I could do, but I'm disappointed!” said Quartararo. “In these conditions, wh💙er𝕴e in some corners I couldn't go on the kerb, like Turn 6, I could not really carry speed like we have to do with the Yamaha… Not using some kerbs in this track was really not an advantage for us, with a lack of power.

“So bas🌜ically from Turn 6 to Turn 7 it was not great, in Turn 15 I had to make less corner spee𝔉d, because we could not really use the kerbs either. So yeah, disappointed, but it's always the same problem.

“I'm starting to have m▨uch less fun than before a💮nd we have to find a solution quite fast.”

Looking ahead to the race, Quartararo warned: “This year, the most important is the qualifying. Because I thi💎nk we have quite a fas🧸t pace, but where I can overtake?

“It's a track where there's a lot of accelerati💮on and braking. If you're not getting at least a bit close, you cannot make aඣny overtakes.

“In Austria I could overtake, but the amount of risk I'm taking in any overtake is so much. I will have to make a great start, great first lap, and 🔯play a lot in the first four corners.”

Quartararo fought his way through the pac🌳k of Ducatis to second place at the Red Bull Ring, but Aprilia is also looking much more competitive this weekend.

Quartararo will sta😼rt Sunday’s race 32 points clear🎶 of Espargaro and 44 points ahead of Bagnaia.