Maverick Vinales says his leap in performance at the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix on Friday was largely down to reduced pain in his injured shoulder.

The Tech3 KTM rider has had a difficult time since hurting himself at the German Grand Prix in 2025, missing numerous races and struggling for performance when he has competed. 

His latest comeback, which began at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month, had not been particularly encouraging until the opening day at Sepang, when Vinales registered a time inside the Friday top 10 for the first time this year.

While the track and the low-grip conditions may suit the bike - his team-mate Enea Bastianini will also join him in Q2, along with the factory's Pedro Acosta - this was still a substantial jump for the Spaniard.

After the day's track action, he referred to the new pain management treatment he had undertaken since last weekend's Australian Grand Prix. The 31-year-old "did some injections trying to reduce the pain" and said that this, combined with the favourable circuit, made the difference on Friday.

"It's the track and also I think it's the treatment I've been doing after Phillip Island. It's reducing the pain, and when the pain is less, the [physical] power is more."

While Vinales said he was not riding pain-free, things were heading in the right direction for a return to his pre-injury performance.

"Still I feel pain, but less. So the target is to arrive to Portimao and Valencia [the last two races of the season] trying to have no pain. Because as soon as I don't have pain, I gain.

Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

"As soon as the limit of the pain is gone, I think I will be where I left at the [German GP venue] Sachsenring. So that's the good point."

While Vinales has already lost his place on the MotoGP grid for next season, he sounded confident he could make a statement over the remaining 2026 race weekends.

"If [my condition] is like this, then we can think [about] something more for the next tracks. Because obviously the performance will come as soon as I can push the bike more. 

"This bike unfortunately only works when you push it hard. You cannot be just riding, you need to really force the bike everywhere."

Vinales suggested he had not extracted his full potential on Friday in Malaysia, as he had to adapt his style to cope with riding pain-free: "I'm fighting with the bike. It's been so long that I haven't ridden at a good level that now it's hard suddenly to go very quick. I fight a lot with the bike, so I need to try to understand how to be more gentle with the bike, to be more precise.

"But the lap time was not too difficult, to be honest. I think I could [still] improve a little bit the lap time."