After his crash at Le Mans, Fabio Quartararo criticizes the behavior of the marshals and shows little understanding for his penalty
Adding to the disappointment of Fabio Quartararo crashing out of his home Grand Prix at Le Mans was the anger over a penalty for the next Grand Prix this weekend at Silverstone.
The race stewards penalized the Frenchman for “irresponsible behavior” toward the marshals who helped him and his crashed Yamaha out of the gravel trap: He will have to sit out the first ten minutes of the first free practice session and pay a fine of €2,000.
However, Quartararo is disappointed with the way the situation was handled at the side of the track and criticizes the behavior of the marshals.
“My bike wasn’t damaged,” Quartararo clarifies. ‘I picked it up myself. But the marshals didn’t help me properly, they didn’t push me, so I couldn’t restart the bike.’
Quartararo: Could have continued
The exact sequence of events was not visible on TV, which is why there was initially uncertainty about the condition of his motorcycle. However, Quartararo emphasizes: “No, nothing was broken. I lifted the bike, but the marshal didn’t push me. So I couldn’t restart.” The frustration was correspondingly great.
The Yamaha rider tried to discuss the matter with the race stewards, but then gave up and drove away in exasperation. Looking back, he does not consider his behavior unusual: “I didn’t think what I did was stupid. Many riders have done the same thing in the past without being penalized.”
“But suddenly I was penalized,” he said angrily. ”I understand that they want to send a message, but it’s strange that I’m always the first to be penalized.”
QUARTARARO AND @bradbinder_33 CRASH FrenchGP pic. twitter.com/fABowULo22
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) May 11, 2025
However, his criticism is mainly focused on the uncoordinated efforts of the marshals. “I told the race director: if the marshals had pushed me correctly, I would have been able to restart the bike.”
Then, according to Quartararo, there would be no discussion now. “But one held, one pushed—that just doesn’t work with a MotoGP bike. You need a strong, targeted push.” That would have allowed him to switch to his second bike in the pits and continue the flag-to-flag race.
Despite his annoyance, Quartararo also shows understanding for the situation: “I know it’s a stressful situation, even for the marshals. But if you want to help, then please do it properly. Either properly or not at all. The way it happened was not acceptable.”
Penalty too harsh and inconsistent?
The Yamaha rider therefore only accepts the penalty for the situation with reservations. “If they want to penalize me, okay, I understand that. But you also have to see what the marshals did,” he warns.
“It’s not just my responsibility. I may have been annoyed and didn’t want to just put the bike down, that’s true. But the marshals also have a responsibility—a responsibility to push me hard, not to have one holding and one pushing. That has to be taken into account as well.”
The penalty is based on Article 1.21.2 of the regulations, which requires responsible behavior on and off the track. According to the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), Quartararo’s actions violated direct instructions from the marshals and created potential danger for himself and others.
The Yamaha rider now hopes that there will be more consistency in the future – both in the assessment of incidents and in the behavior of the marshals: “If everyone is treated the same, then I can accept it. But you have to look at the whole situation, not just what’s on paper.”