Franco Morbidelli doubles down on Aleix Espargaro criticism: ‘I could have been worse’

VR46 MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli has doubled down on his criticism of Honda’s Aleix Espargaro following their tangle at the British Grand Prix, saying “I could have been worse”.

The pair collided on the opening lap of the British GP at the Vale chicane, when HRC wildcard Aleix Espargaro crashed and took Franco Morbidelli with him.

No stewards action was taken on the incident, though both had strong opposing views after the Silverstone race.

Morbidelli - who suffered a foot fracture in the clash - said Espargaro has “always had something extra for me”, eluding to a number of incidents the pair have had over the years.

Asked on Thursday ahead of the Aragon Grand Prix if he felt his comments were harsh and if his opinion had changed, Morbidelli doubled down.

“I’m sorry to hear that I was harsh because I could have been much, much worse,” Morbidelli, who was able to take the restart at Silverstone following a red flag and narrowly miss the podium, said.

“I wasn’t harsh. Under that point of view, I don’t change my thought an inch.

“I believe that what I had to experience on Sunday was not fair at all and was not the behaviour that a test rider should have against another rider competing for important positions in the championship - even though it was a mistake.

“There’s no doubt about that: Aleix Espargaro made a mistake on Sunday. But because that mistake means many things.

“That mistake that a test rider is not collecting data for his factory.

“It means he is racing against other riders in a way that makes him do mistakes while he’s doing what he’s supposed to do, which is just bring the package home and collect data, even more if you have the weekend that he had.

“So, clearly off the pace by two, two and a half seconds in every session, and then in the race you crash in the first lap.

“That’s not an index of doing your work properly. I had to pay for that with a fracture on my foot and that’s frustrating.

“I could have been much harsher after this episode.

“Instead I just said for sure he has something with me because of the fact he’s not able to do his job to the end, just to race in a way that a test rider is not supposed to race.

“I added that because of our history. That’s no secret, we had episodes, so I thought ‘what’s the thing that made Aleix Espargaro come out of his working programme during a race where he wasn’t clearly racing with anyone else because he was two and half seconds slower’.

“Maybe it was me who found myself in that point of the race where I wasn’t supposed to but I had a bad start and I was there. So, that’s what happened and that’s what I said after the race.

“But that was the episode that gave me the red flag and be able to pick up the bike again.

“I don’t know if I would have been able to make the race that I did without that because I was 18th at that moment. So, this is a thing that alleviates the frustration. But what I think is exactly the same.”

Espargaro apologised for his part in the incident, though hit back at Morbidelli’s criticism in the aftermath.