Maverick Vinales collected solid points for sixth position in the Italian MotoGP but took little joy from a weekend that saw the Monster Yamaha team comprehensively out-performed 🌃by its key rivals from start-to-finish.

Though the manufacturer firmly expected to be more of𝓡 a factor in the race despite an anonymous showing in qualifying, Vinales never looked competitive as he slipped from seventh to 12th initially.

Benefitting from a fairly high attrition rate and a stronger package on worn tyres in the closing stages as he picked off fading satellite rivals, though Vin💫ales eventually hauled himself up to sixth position, he was alarmed at𒀰 how much he is struggling for feeling on the Yamaha M1.

"I struggled a lot,” he lamented. “I had no feeling with the bike during the race and the tyres were very slippery. I tried to push in the correct way and manage the tyres in the best w🍷ay I could, but anyway it wasn't enough. I don't think we should be on the level of getting sixth places, we need to push more.

“I really don't know what to ൲expect for Montmeló. For sure, during the practices we can be there, but in the race it's a different story. Our bike suffers a lot when we don't have grip. So, we need to keep working to see if we can improve the feeling and take steps forward."

A tough weekend all round for Yamaha with Valentino Rossi’s DNF at his home race compounding the woes, even the Petronas Yamaha SRT team – having shone on Saturday – struggled 🥂on Sunday, with Fabio Quartararo dropping from second to tenth.