The Sprint race of the MotoGP Italian 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 attempted overtake at turn ten of Mugello, with the incident not being penalized by the stewards, much to the dismay of the 2021 champion.
About his visit to the stewards’ room, the Frenchman explained: ‘I wanted to see the stewards, first of all not to get a penalty for Miguel, but just to make them understand they’re not doing a good job. I’m not here to say that he has to make a Long Lap, he has a three places grid penalty, but I’ve not seen any great move from them. For me, Miguel made a mistake, it happens. It happened to me in Assen [last year] and I got a Long Lap. For me, the job they’re doing is not good’.
When asked about what the stewards told him, Quartararo replied: ‘That was a racing incident, and when I did it, it was a too optimistic overtake. So they play a little bit with the words. I don’t want any penalty for Miguel, but we just have to understand, because if I was playing for the championship and this happened to me and someone was not getting the penalty, it wouldn’t be the same. Right now is complicated, we have no data for the race, but I think we wouldn’t score any point today. But it’s just a question of improve how the system is working, and we are not doing any steps forward’.
Complaints about the actions of the stewards are recurring and from several riders, due to the inconsistency of decisions. Would a unanimous written stance be viable? Quartararo commented: ‘It’s three/four/five years the same. They made us to fill like, «what do you think about this incident, this is a penalty or not?». They said: «Thank you, is very helpful», but at the end… Again, it’s not that I want a penalty for Miguel because he is in front. I don’t care, but I think it must be fair for everyone. Aleix [Espargaró] and [Johann] Zarco in Jerez… I was just behind, this was not a racing incident. I wanted to talk with them just to explain a little bit, but I’m talking to a wall to not say another word’.