After qualifying a disappointing seventh on Saturday, Vinales managed to recover to third place behind Repsol Honda duo Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in a race dominated by strategy on a drying track.

The Yamaha rider was helped by making an earlier switch to his second bike than some of his rivals, including Rossi, who came home one place behind Vinales.

It marked Vinales’ first podium finish since June’s Mugello race, and came on the first race weekend that the Spanish rider used Yamaha’s latest chassis on both of his bikes, bringing him in line with Rossi.

Speaking post-race, Vinales admitted that adopting a set-up similar to that of the Italian veteran was partly behind his strong dry pace.

“I think we’ve found the way again,” said Vinales, who now lies 14 points behind Marquez in the standings. “Valentino helped us find it.

“We tried a set-up very similar to his and we did well, and it was using the same chassis as him.

“I felt very good in the dry, like at the beginning of the year. I increased my confidence and I feel stronger in the title fight.

“The first laps [after pitting] were hard because it was difficult to get heat in the tyres and I had no feeling. I pitted a little late as well.

“To reach the podium is a good result, almost like a win.”

Vinales added that Monday’s post-Czech GP test would be critical to his title hopes as he seeks to recapture the early-season form that took him to back-to-back wins in Qatar and Argentina.

“It’s time to recover the feeling that we had in the first part of the season,” he said. “It’s really, really important.

“We have to work so hard, to find the correct way on refine the chassis, the suspension, everything, to keep on a good level from here until the end of the season."

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont