The Petronas SRT rider, Fabio Quartararo said that his first crash at San Marino Grand Prix occurred as a result of him pushing the bike to its limits "like it was the last lap"to catch up with Jack Miller ahead of him in the race.
Unfortunately, Quartararo had dropped from third to fifth at the start and got stuck behind the Yamaha counterpart Maverick Vinales which made him to push the bike to its limits.
Quartararo admits that he got "too excited" after overtaking Vinales since he had better pace. When he came ahead of Vinales at the end of lap seven, he tried to go after the third place which was run by Pramac Ducati of Miller.
Quartararo's front tyre had overheated following Vinales and he crashed at the Rio right-hander at Turn 4 on lap eight.
Rejoining in 20th position, he went out late in the race with cold front tyre which means lesser traction. When he reached the pits the team suspected engine issue. No problem was detected, and the loss of power was a result of the traction control and anti-wheelie settings.
"In the moment I overtake Maverick, I say 'OK, I need to push to catch Jack'," Quartararo explained.
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But unfortunately, I pushed like it was the last lap, and there were 19 laps remaining.
"So, it's a mistake that I did by myself. Of course, it was my tyre [when] behind Maverick [that] overheated and the pressure go a little bit up."
The team was looking forward to dominate the race. However, with SRT team-mate Franco Morbidelli dominating the race, Quartararo says he will not change his approach to simply bag points in the championship.
"No, honestly next race I want to fight again for the win," he said when asked if he will settle for results in future.
"Today I think I got too excited, because when I was behind Maverick I was too easy, let's say. I was riding, but I say 'I can ride half a second faster'.
"And this sort of moment is frustrating because you can't overtake him and you are blocked. Soon as I overtake him, I say I'm free to open my throttle and brake late. Unfortunately, the front tyre get overheated, the pressure was high, but more mistakes from myself."
Quartararo says he will watch the race back to learn from his mistakes, but he denied that the pressure of being championship leader got to him as he 'doesn't care' about the title right now in his second season.
"Honestly, many people think I have pressure because I'm leading the championship," he added.
"But I can tell you that I really don't care that I was first.
"The main goal when I arrived here was that I wanted to be fast and have the possibility to fight for the victory. Finally, it's my second year, I'm 21.
Of course, I want to win the championship, but there is not the pressure now that I need to think about the championship."
