🍌After a stunning pre-season and then fifth in Qatar qualifying, it was particularly cruel that rookie Fabio Quartararo's first notable error as a MotoGP rider came as he left th🅘e grid for the season-opening grand prix.

The devastated Petron𓄧as Yamaha Sepang rider stalled his M1 as he began the warm-up lap and was forced to start from the end of pit lane, in a distant last.

But the French teenager underli💞ned what might have been🌜 by setting the fastest lap of the race as he fought through the field from 23rd to 16th place.

"Eve🐬rything went really well up until the race!" said Petronas Yamaha team manager Wilco Zeelenberg. "Fabio stalled the bike on the grid and had to start from pit lane. Unfortunately, it was a small miꦺstake that had a big consequence.

"However, hওe didn’t th🌜row in the towel and he put together a strong pace in the race, making it up to 16th."

Quartararo lost around ten seconds on the opening lap and went on to finish 15.9s from race w💃inner Andrea Dovizioso, suggesting he would have been a close match for top rookie Joan Mir in eighth (+5.9s).

"Iౠ made a mistake before the start,🦂 which was a shame, but it is better to make mistakes at the start of the season rather than in the middle," Quartararo said.

"The first lap was very difficult because the tyres were still cold [without the warm-up lap] so I had to really concentrate under braking, I stayed calm and was very careful until the tyres got up to temperature before I increased my rhythm and pu𓂃shed.

"I struggled a little towards the end of the race but I am happy with the job we have done here during the we💙ekend and also at the test.

"It's not the result wanted buܫt we got a lot of experience from a very different kind of race.

"The biggest th𒊎ing I learned from my first grand prix is that it is much harder to overtake in this category than it is in Moto2 and Moto3.

"We'll leave the negatives here and take only the positivಌes home. I'm happy about the work we did during the race wee⛄kend, we showed some speed, but we need to keep focussed and learn in all the other races.

"I want to thank the team for all their support durin♍g my first grand prix in this category. Now I can’t wait for the next one."

T♍eam-mate Franco Morbidelli dropped from eighth to 13th on the opening lap, returning to wﷺhere he had started by the middle stages, only to struggle with the soft rear tyre and fade to eleventh.

"I would split my race tonight into two parts. The first half was good despite a bad start, bec💖ause I was able to recover positions easily, run with the front group and manage the tyres.

"Unfortunately, we made a bad ✨cho🗹ice with the rear tyre and went for the soft option when the majority of riders went for the medium. I had to make the tyre last for as long as I could, but from around the halfway stage I started to struggle to stay with the group.

"It is a shame because we had the pace to finish higher up and we worked really well, being reasonably strong throughout the weekend, so we need to focus on tꦦhe positives and keep this dynamic going in Argentina."