Martin fought with title rival Francesco Bagnaia in the early stages of the Malaysian GP, having dropped from second on the grid to fifth when he ran wide at Turn 1 at the start.
Bagnaia repelled this attack for the final podium place and eased away from Martin by over six seconds to extend his championship lead to 14 points.
Martin says he did have a higher front tyre pressure to start the grand prix, having already been given a warning for breaching the minimum pressure rule in Thailand, but this wasn’t what compromised his grand prix.
“No, no. For sure, higher than what I wanted but less than yesterday,” Martin said when asked if his tyre pressure was high for the start of the race.
“We tried to be a bit better in this situation, but for sure it was not enough and after six laps I was crashing all the corners.
“It was really difficult and frustrating that I couldn’t push for all the race. So, P4 was the maximum I could do.
“I think it was a little bit more than 2 bar, not like yesterday at 2.1.
“But I think it was more the temperature behind Pecco. I struggled and then it never came down. I tried to put pressure on him, but I felt I was crashing so I just slowed down.”
Source: Autosport