Valentino Rossi: Dire Mugello among worst MotoGP races in long time

Rossi struggled throughout the Italian Grand Prix weekend, with a mistake in Saturday morning practice leaving him in Q1 - where he only qualified 18th.

He made little progress in the race before making contact with Suzuki's Joan Mir on lap five, running through the gravel and dropping to the back of the field.

Rossi then crashed three laps later at Arrabbiata 2, to record his first retirement of the season.

"It's a very difficult weekend, one of the worst for a long time because we were never fast," Rossi said.

"We arrived here knowing that it was difficult, but we expected to be strong in Mugello.

"But unfortunately it was not like this and in all the practice I was not so fast.

"In the race, starting from behind is always difficult, also because my pace was not fantastic.

"I lost everything when I had contact with Mir because I tried to overtake but we touched and I went off and afterwards I also crashed in Arrabbiata 2.

"I was not fast, so in general a very difficult weekend - especially because we were quite slow and it looks like we struggled especially in the race when we had to ride with other bikes.

"We are not fast in the straight but also in acceleration so a race like this is very difficult. We have to try to do something."

While Yamaha's top speed deficit was apparent throughout the weekend, Rossi said he was suffering "everywhere from the start".

"Also the other Yamahas that are in the first two rows, by the first corner they already lost six or seven places," he added.

"This is the bigger difference, really a problem. Also from acceleration, from one corner to the other we suffer.

"It's not just top speed, but is also acceleration and now the gap is quite big."

Rossi added that the previous round at Le Mans was also a "big mess", as a mistake-free race there was only good enough for fifth.

"In Le Mans [qualifying] we did the magic of the slick in Q1 and also the Q2 was wet and usually in the wet I am fast so I was able to start fifth," he said.

"I did a race without making any mistake, always in the slipstream, and I finished fifth."