A host of MotoGP riders have hit out at the series’ race directors for not stopping the action during Saturday morning’s British Grand Prix practice and qualifying and qualifying sessions at Silverstone.
Both standing water and crash debris on the circuit left many frustrated not to see the red flags come out even after multiple high-speed crashes.
Nine riders hit the ground during the two sessions, with eventual pole position qualifier Marco Bezzecchi and championship leader Pecco Bagnaia among those to fall, something that prompted the two Italians to be among the most outspoken about the state of the track afterwards.
Both felt the conditions were borderline for a practice and qualifying session, and definitely worse than would have been sensible for a race.
“Already in the P2 [the practice session] it should have been red-flagged,” Bagnaia said.
“In a session, it’s OK to let us go, because in my case I was already a bit in the front, but considering the crash of Marco, you would have gone through three or four riders for sure.
“It was a bit on the limit in this session, but I think if it was a race in these conditions it should have been red flagged.”
“It was a bit dangerous, to be honest,” Bezzecchi added. “Not too much in the corners, but in the many straights this track has, I was having a lot of aquaplaning, a lot of rear spin.
“It’s difficult to control, because you’re full gas, so you cannot do anything.
“Where I crashed was a point where the water was a lot. Maybe it was OK for qualifying, maybe a bit on the limit, but if we had to start the sprint like this then for sure it would have been too dangerous. The view [visibility] was nothing.”
It wasn’t just the wet conditions that prompted riders to complain afterwards, with eventual sprint race winner Alex Marquez initially describing the state of the track like something expected in a “regional championship” thanks to the amount of debris on it, before expanding on what he meant after taking his first premier class win in the afternoon.
“There were two wings on turn one [Abbey],” the Gresini Ducati rider said when asked about qualifying conditions by The Race, “all the grass from his [Bezzecchi’s] crash, and the last two laps [of Q2] was like there was no sense to ride.
“It was really dangerous with the aquaplaning and all of that, but add the two wings, the grass from Marco’s crash, and it was really difficult to understand why it was not red-flagged at that point.”
One rider on the grid says he has a fairly good idea of why it wasn’t stopped after visiting the control tower to air his frustrations, with Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro (always one of the most vociferous safety advocates on the grid) left frustrated at what he described as a ‘show must go on’ attitude when he complained to them.
“I was very angry,” he fumed afterwards, “and today I don’t understand at all what race control did.
“I talked with them after the qualifying and they said that 100% if it was these conditions then the race would not have started, and I said ‘OK then, so why did qualifying start?’
“It was impossible in the straights, we were aquaplaning everywhere, and we saw many crashes. But the show must go on. They said that when the session starts, because of the job they did when the session starts, it was good actually.
“But it was still raining and in five minutes the track was the same. But it’s OK, you do this job, you let the riders go out on track and as soon as you see riders aquaplaning, me and Bagnaia waving our hands, many crashes, you put out the f**king red flag.”
The handling of poor weather at Silverstone has been a contentious topic in MotoGP before, particularly when Tito Rabat had a massive crash in 2018 in similar circumstances that left him with a badly broken leg. His MotoGP career never really recovered.
But Espargaro said: “It’s not about 2018, it’s about today. They saw everyone on track aquaplaning.
“If they were on the pitwall they would hear the traction control and the bikes [wheel]spinning on the straights.
“They’re the best in the world at doing their job, theoretically.”
MotoGP race director Mike Webb said the decision to keep the session running had not been taken lightly and was a reasonable one given all the information available.
“As race director the final decision to stop a track session is mine and, as always, the decision is taken in consultation with the other expert members of race direction, the Dorna riders’ representative and the FIM safety officer, especially when related to weather and track conditions,” said Webb in a statement provided to The Race.
“The race direction members were on track evaluating conditions immediately before every wet session today at Silverstone, and our conclusion was that it was safe to start the sessions.
“When deciding whether to stop a session we monitor the CCTV and TV images, the weather conditions, the lap times, and any crashes that occur.
“The start of the Q2 session had better track conditions than the final minutes of the session and based on all the above criteria, we decided it was not necessary to stop either of the sessions.”
