Miller: It seemed a master stroke, then the clouds came in
The hard front tyre may have given Factory Ducati riders Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller race-winning pace, but the risk outweighed the reward as they both crashed out.
Miller was first to go, losing the front into Turn 15 on lap 4 while acting as a bodyguard between title contender Bagnaia and eventual winner Marc Marquez, having backed out of an earlier chance to pass.
"[Bagnaia's] rear tyre looked like it took more time to get going. I was close to passing him but I backed out of it," Miller said. "I felt I had really good pace. We got quite close at T10 when he braked earlier than expected. I had to go wide but was able to close the gap back down immediately. But it only lasted until T15.
"It’s disappointing for myself, disappointing for the team. It’s one of those days you just want to forget. We tried our best. Again it looked fantastic all weekend but it wasn’t to be today."
Bagnaia's race and title chances also ended in the Turn 15 gravel trap, with just four laps remaining, as the hard front tyre choice backfired in the cool conditions.
"It was to do with our [front tyre] choice," Miller confirmed. "We went a bit left-field and tried the hard front. It seemed a master stroke. Around 1pm it looked fantastic. But on the grid the clouds came in and the track temperature was borderline. It wasn’t quite warm enough.
"At Turn 15 I had no hope of saving it. As soon as I put it on the angle, she took off away from me. Nothing we could’ve done about that. Pecco and I had a great pace at the beginnin, but it wasn’t easy."
Miller took responsibility for the tyre decision and made clear the medium wasn't a safe choice either.
"I made the decision. The front was locking in a straight line with the medium, as happened to Martin [in the race], we were getting some strange locking," he said, "I knew it was going to be tricky on the left side. It was a joint decision. The team knew what they were doing. Pecco did too. Our decision was made ourselves."
Like Bagnaia, Miller congratulated Quartararo on his championship victory as attention now turns to the Ducati-Yamaha battle for victory in the teams' and constructors' titles over the final two rounds.
"Fantastic for Fabio," Miller said. "He’s won five races, been the most consistent. He's had difficult races, but made them into not bad races. He’s a deserving champion. It’s amazing to see France get one. Of course we wanted to push it as late as possible. But he’s a good young boy is Fabio, so I’m happy for him.
"We are now 13 points behind in the Teams' Championship and still leading the Manufacturers’ [12 points]. Those are the goal.
"I’m more disappointed [personally] as Joan crashed out today, then one lap later I strung myself in the gravel. I could’ve made up decent points on him but I’m back to fifth in the championship. But we’ll keep fighting until the end and see what we can do."
Miller is just three points from Pramac Ducati's Johann Zarco but with Marquez fast closing in and now only seven points behind, with a maximum of 50 remaining.
