Fabio Quartararo revealed his disappointment with the FIM stewards following his retirement from the Italian Grand Prix Sprint race on Saturday. The Yamaha MotoGP rider was forced out after being caught up in a crash with Miguel Oliveira, and Quartararo likened his subsequent conversations with stewards to “talking to a wall”. Francesco Bagnaia went on to claim victory.
Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo criticised the level of stewarding after crashing out of the Sprint race at the Italian Grand Prix, saying it seems as though the officials have “never been racing”.
Quartararo was caught up in a tangle with Miguel Oliveira on the second lap of the race, as the latter attempted an overtake at Turn 10. Both riders were forced to retire immediately after the collision.
The Frenchman sought clarity from the stewards following the collision, which they deemed a racing incident. However, Quartararo revealed how he was left “confused” by the conversations he had with stewards, adding that he felt he was talking to people with no experience of racing bikes.
“I wanted to talk to them just to explain a little bit but I’m talking to a wall, to don’t say any word,” Quartararo said.
“I go out more confused than when I come. But it’s not bad. You know it looks like I’m talking to someone that has never been racing, so this is sad and I think we have to get people more proficient.”
Quartararo is not the first rider to be critical of the level of stewarding this season. Following the Grand Prix in Jerez, Johann Zarco labelled the FIM stewards “unprofessional”, while Ducati rider Enea Bastianini revealed after the Catalan Grand Prix that he ignored his penalty in protest at the stewarding.
The Yamaha rider asserted that he did not go to the stewards to seek further punishment for Oliveira, but to affirm his disappointment over inconsistencies in decision-making – adding that the situation could have been increasingly problematic if he was contending at the top of the championship.
“I wanted to see the stewards not to get a penalty for Miguel, but just to realise that they are not doing a good job,” he said.
“I’m not here to say he [Oliveira] has to make a long lap here [or] three-place grid penalty, but I have not seen any great move from them [stewards]. For me Miguel made a mistake, can happen, it happened to me, Aleix [Espargaro] didn’t crash and I get a long lap.
“But yes, for me the job they are doing is not great.
“That [it] was a racing incident and when I did it, it was too optimistic overtake. So they play a little bit with the words.
“Like I said, I don’t want any penalty for Miguel. We just have to realise because if I’m playing for the championship and this happens to me and someone is not getting a penalty, it’s not the same.
“Right now it’s complicated, we have no data for the race, I was not scoring any points today anyway.
“But it’s just a question of improve how the system is working and we are not doing any step for that this weekend”.
Elsewhere in the Sprint race, championship leader Jorge Martin crashed out, allowing Francesco Bagnaia to claim victory ahead of Marc Marquez.
TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media
