Newly crowned MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo arrived in Portimao more relaxed but still suffering, after his Misano celebrations.

The Monster Energy Yamaha man croaked his way through Thursday’s press conference after the previous week’s partying had obviously taken its toll.

“My voice is still quite bad,” Quartararo admitted “but it was super nice to celebrate with the team on Sunday. After Misano I spend some few days with my family and of course was super nice. Also was tough to go back to training after some few parties but was necessary, of course, to feel ready for that race. But it was a really special week after winning the championship in Misano.”

The 22-year-old’s work is far from done, however, as Yamaha remain locked in battle with Ducati for the Manufacturer’s title, while the two factory outfits sit just 13 points apart in the Teams championship too.

“Honestly I feel, I will not say pressure because to be honest, I achieved my goal,” the Frenchman commented on Thursday. “I will give my best, of course, I come here to fight for the victory, for the podium, but is something that I can’t really control. I will give my best but then we will see the final result. But of course will be nice to make that and to see if we can achieve it,” he said of the triple crown.

“For me, I feel more relaxed,” he continued. “In Misano, my pressure was quite high because you are playing for something really big but here I have not this kind of pressure. You always have the stress before to start the race but I think this is the good stress, the adrenaline before the start. So I think is not a question of pressure or no pressure but just the thing you are playing for and I think that for these last two races will be much more easy than the last three that was quite difficult.

“To be honest, it was just difficult the first day, on Tuesday to come back to training after Misano. But to refocus again I think is quite easy because it’s what I love, to be riding, to race, to fight with these guys. So I would say is not so difficult because it’s what I want. I would say I was looking forward to be back.”

Looking ahead to 2022, Quartararo is already aware, as is the rest of the paddock, what he needs from his employer going forward.

“Is the top speed,” he confirmed. “I feel so good on the bike and the top speed is not only for one lap but also to fight in some races is so important. This is I think the main thing.

“Of course if they can find something more on the chassis, but I already say the chassis is super good, we can improve but the margin is such small that is not so important but to work on the top speed is the clear thing that I ask to Yamaha. For fight for some races and also to overtake little bit more easy in some tracks.

And the all important question… will he run the number one plate?

“No, we will not see this number because I started with the number 20 and I feel like I’m not number one so I will keep going with the number 20 until the end of all my career because it’s the number that really makes me want to start and is a really special number,” he concluded.