Valentino Rossi acknowledged Yamaha have made a clear step forward with electronic strategies during the MotoGP summer break as M1s occupied third to fifth places in yesterday's Austrian MotoGP round and he finished the race 30s faster than last year.

Rossi took fourth behind Petronas Yamaha's rookie wunderkind Fabio Quartararo but said from Friday he knew a decent result was possible even though in 2018 he was sixth and 14s behind winner Jorge Lorenzo. Yesterday, The Doctoe finished seven seconds behind Andrea Dovizioso.

“On paper we’re supposed to suffer a lot here in Austria like in the past. But from the beginning in FP1 we see something good," said Rossi, speaking at the track.

We improve, especially the consistency and the grip of the tyres. I did a very good start and very good fast laps. I was strong and was able to cover a lot of positions.

"I was in a good position to fight for the podium but unfortunately the guys in front of me – especially Dovi and Marquez, but also a little bit Quartararo – were stronger than me. So I wasn’t able to go with Fabio.

“But in the end it’s a positive result because I suffer a bit at the end. Viñales and Rins recover to me but I was able to ride well and arrive in front. In the end the fourth place is not so bad.

"We are quite happy especially because it looks like the second half of the season start in a better way. The first one we had very, very negative races.

“It looks like something moved in Yamaha and Yamaha started to work harder and in a better way to improve the bike. When we arrived here on Friday we understand that we make a step in the electronics and acceleration and we can be more competitive because we always suffer at this track.

“So this is the most important thing. For sure we have a lot of work to do, because especially Dovi and Marquez with the factory Ducati and Honda are faster than us but it’s a good way to restart."