Jack Miller admitted he was “quite embarrassed” after a difficult Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, where severe rear-tyre degradation left him struggling badly in the closing stages.
The Yamaha rider had been running laps in the 1m32s range during the race, but his pace collapsed over the final five laps. His times dropped into the 1m38s range before he recorded a 1m40.225s final lap.
Miller eventually finished 21st, more than 20 seconds behind teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu and around a minute behind race winner Pedro Acosta.
The Australian said the main problem was the extreme deterioration of his Michelin rear tyre, which left him with almost no grip from the middle of the race onwards.
“I couldn't do anything from about lap 13 or 14 onwards. The bike was spinning in a straight line,” Miller said.
He explained that the tyre had developed a large worn section in the centre, making it difficult to use the Yamaha’s power effectively on the long straights or carry speed through corners.
The issue was made worse by the stiffer rear tyre casing Michelin brought for Spielberg. The casing is used at only a handful of circuits, including the Austrian and Thai Grands Prix.
Miller also pointed to Yamaha’s electronics as another factor behind his struggles. The team had been working on the problem throughout the weekend, but the bike was still struggling to manage its power smoothly.
Source: Crash.net
“We're not able to transfer that weight smoothly, so any sort of sharp input, it upsets it and then it creates spin,” Miller explained.
The combination of the electronics issue and the tyre degradation meant simply adding more power would not have solved the problem, according to Miller.
He suggested that even another 40bhp would have made little difference because the bike was already struggling to put its existing power onto the track without excessive wheelspin.
Despite his problems, Miller refused to consider retiring from the race and continued to the chequered flag.
“I'm not a guy that parks it,” he said. “The race isn't over until it's over. You never know if a red flag can fly or whatever. Better off being in it than not being in it.”
The Austrian GP therefore ended as a particularly frustrating weekend for Miller, who was left searching for answers after seeing his pace disappear in the final stages.
For Yamaha, the race also highlighted the need to address its electronics and tyre-management problems before the next round, with Miller’s experience at the Red Bull Ring showing just how severely the combination can affect the bike’s performance.
