Quartararo looking forward to fight, learn from Marquez
Fabio Quartararo doesn't think winning the MotoGP title would have felt any different if Marc Marquez had been on track for the full 2021 season.
But he's happy that the eight-time champion has been passed fit to start pre-season testing at Sepang tomorrow and is looking forward to repeating some of their 2019 duels.
"The taste of winning the world championship is the same whether it's with Marc or not," Quartararo explained. "I could say the same, that this year there is no more Valentino Rossi on the grid.
"So for me to win in 2021 or 2022 is the same.
"Of course, Marc is a rider that for me in the last ten years was the fastest, the reference. But for me, without Marc or with Marc, the title will taste the same.
"Of course the goal right now is to fight for the championship and Marc is here, so let's see."
The Monster Yamaha rider added: "To be honest, I'm really happy for Marc [being back] because I have a really good relationship with him and the last two years have been really tough for him.
"As soon as he was back again at his top level [last year] he had the eye injury, so it was a tough two years for him. But I'm really happy Marc is back because I always said that in 2019 I learned a lot from him and I think I still have a lot to learn.
"So I'm happy he's back and looking forward to fight with him."
But that doesn't mean Quartararo will be looking at the Repsol Honda rider's lap times, or indeed anyone other than P1, when he takes to the track tomorrow.
"It's three months since I've been on the MotoGP bike so first of all I need to look at myself, how fast I will be," he said. "Of course you always look at the fastest lap time, but I will not look specifically at Marc or Pecco or whatever.
"I will just look at the fastest lap time and where we lose. I know Marc is a strong guy and he's a contender for the title, since ever! But I will look at myself first and then we will see in Indonesia [test]."
The 22-year-old insisted he goes into his fourth MotoGP season feeling less pressure as a reigning champion.
"It's not extra pressure or extra weight for me because I achieved my dream since I was a kid," he said. "Most riders can't achieve that goal so I feel it's more like an extra motivation because I've felt the feeling of winning a world championship and I want to do it again.
"Of course, everyone has pressure but I don’t feel like someone has more pressure or not.
"For me it's a totally new year. I start with no championship and I don’t need to 'defend' my title, I just need to win it. And that's it. Last year is last year and this is a brand new year for everybody. So no 'defending' the title!"
Quartararo also spoke about his past use of a sports psychologist, making clear that it was to help with anger management rather than pressure issues.
"I never struggled with pressure and the last time I saw a psychologist was 2020, so a long time," he said. "What I've struggled with in the past is I get angry super-fast and that's why I went to a psychologist.
"Now I never really get angry for small reasons. And for pressure I've always been quite okay, apart from when I was 15-16 and people compared me to Marc. Then I had a lot!"
"Last year was only my third year in MotoGP and you learn every time you go on the bike," added France's first ever premier-class world champion. "You learn to not only be more fast but more consistent, more self-belief. And that's it.
"It was a normal process. Every time I'm on the bike I'm learning something and you need to do mistakes to learn. That's why we make steps and I think it's really important."
