Fabio Quartararo criticises stewards: “I go out more confused than when I come”

Fabio Quartararo was critical of the stewards at the Italian MotoGP, insisting they have “never been racing”.

The Yamaha’s sprint race at Mugello came to an early conclusion on the second lap, after he was taken out by Trackhouse’s Miguel Oliveira.

The clash was ruled as a racing incident but Quartararo visited the stewards to hear their thoughts, before demanding better personnel.

“I wanted to talk to them just to explain a little bit but I'm talking to [a] wall,” Quartararo is quoted by Motorsport.

“I go out more confused than when I come.

“But it's not bad. 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 [who are] more proficient.

“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.

“I'm not here to say he has to make a long lap here [or a] three-place grid penalty. But I have not seen any great move from [the stewards].

“For me, Miguel made a mistake. Can happen, it happened to me, Aleix didn’t crash and I get a long lap.”

Quartararo was referencing Assen 2022, when he was penalised even though he didn’t cause Aleix Espargaro to crash.

He said about the stewards: “For me, the job they are doing is not great.”

Quartararo revealed what the stewards said to him: “That [it] was a racing incident and when I did it, it was too optimistic [to] overtake. So they play a little bit with the words.

“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 anyway.

“It's just a question of improving how the system is working and we are not doing any step for that this weekend.”

Yamaha boss Maio Meregalli described the Oliveira-Quartararo clash: "This accident is quite borderline. We think that Miguel was a bit ambitious in his actions."