The Sprint race of the Italian MotoGP Grand Prix ended on the second lap for Fabio Quartararo. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider was hit by Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing/Aprilia) in an overtaking attempt at turn ten of Mugello, with the incident not being penalized by the stewards… much to the displeasure of the 2021 champion.
Regarding his visit to the stewards’ room, the Frenchman explained: ‘I wanted to see the stewards, first of all not to have a penalty for Miguel, but just to make them understand that they are not doing a good job. I’m not here to say that he has to do a Long Lap, he has a three-place grid penalty, but I didn’t see any good measure from them. For me, Miguel made a mistake, it happens. It happened to me in Assen [last year] and I received a Long Lap. For me, the work they are doing is not good’.
Asked about what the stewards told him, Quartararo replied: ‘That it was a racing incident, and when I did it, it was an overly optimistic overtake. So, they play a bit with words. I don’t want any penalty for Miguel, but they simply have to understand, because if I were fighting for the championship and this happened to me and someone didn’t receive the penalty, it wouldn’t be the same. At the moment it’s complicated, we don’t have data for the race, but I don’t think we would have scored today. But it’s just a matter of improving how the system is working, and we’re not making any progress‘.
Complaints about the actions of the commissioners are recurrent and from several pilots, due to the inconsistency of the decisions. Would it be feasible to take a unanimous written position? Quartararo commented: ‘It’s been the same for three/four/five years. They made us fill out something like, “what do you think about this incident, is this a penalty or not?”. They said, “Thank you, it’s very useful”, but in the end… Once again, it’s not that I want a penalty for Miguel just because he’s ahead. I don’t mind, but I think it has to be fair for everyone. Aleix [Espargaró] and [Johann] Zarco in Jerez… I was right behind, this wasn’t a racing incident. I wanted to talk to them just to explain a bit, but I’m talking to a wall not to say another word‘.
