Maverick Vinales given ‘Official Warning’ for tyre pressure
But the Spaniard will still keep his second place behind Aprilia team-mate Aleix Espargaro, since the punishment for a first offence is only an ‘Official Warning’.
If Vinales is found to be under the minimum pressure specified by Michelin for at least 50% of a Sunday race distance or 30% of a Sprint race again, he would face a 3-second post-race time penalty.
A third offence would see the punishment increase to 6-seconds, then 12-seconds for a fourth breach.
Vinales is likely to have been caught out simply because, lining up third on the grid (with Francesco Bagnaia out) but having struggled with starts all season, Aprilia would not have expected him to be leading all the way from laps 1-19.
The fresh air in front would have kept Vinales’ tyre pressure lower than if he had been following another machine.
However, if Vinales had started with a higher pressure, but then been caught behind other bikes, he would have struggled with a lack of grip from being too far above the minimum.
