Vinales and Bagnaia after the collision: Punches were thrown, but in the end no grudges

Author of the article: , published on May 14, 2023.

Maverick Vinales and Francesco Bagnaia say there are no hard feelings between them after they collided and almost got into a fight in the pit zone at the French Grand Prix.

Vinales attacked Bagnaio for third place before the two racers collided and crashed. "The overtaking was clean, and then, from my point of view, Pecco could have given me more space. But in the end we were both without points, even though we were fast, maybe even the fastest in the race," said Vinales.

"I didn't know where Bagnaia was. I thought he saw me at the change of direction, but things like this are often complicated. Everyone has their own opinion, but in the end it is up to the commissioners to decide.”

The commissioners will look into the incident, but for now nothing is known about the possible punishment. "I think it was a racing incident. I have already spoken with the commissioners, and Pecco and I also talked and cleared things up. Pecco and I are one of the cleanest racers and there is no point in arguing," added Vinales, who attributed the hot blood in the excursion zone to emotions and adrenaline. "It was about emotions and adrenaline, because I was very angry. I had a chance to win the race, so I was mad at him. But later I calmed down, we held hands and moved on. He knows that this is racing and that racers must respect each other."

Bagnaia, who lost the most with the crash, as his championship points lead was reduced to just one point, holds no grudges against Vinales and agrees with the Spaniard that it was a racing incident.

"No, I'm not mad at him. I didn't like his reaction after the crash, he was too aggressive. But that's because of the adrenaline, so I'm not mad at him. It was an unfortunate event, or rather a racing accident."

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