Aleix 'sorry for Maverick', 'you have to think twice and breathe'

Yamaha's shock suspension of Maverick Vinales from this weekend's second Austrian round was the biggest talking point when the paddock reconvened at the Red Bull Ring on Thursday.

Officially, Vinales has been withdrawn due to 'unexplained irregular operation of the motorcycle' in last Sunday's race.

Yamaha concluded 'the rider‘s actions could have potentially caused significant damage to the engine of his YZR-M1' and therefore 'caused serious risks to himself and possibly posed a danger to all other riders'.

No further details were given but it is rumoured that Vinales - frustrated at seeing his hopes of repeating a strong start to the opening race ruined by a stall before the restart, plus other subsequent technical issues -  lost his temper and began deliberately over-revving the bike in the closing laps.

"I feel very sorry for Maverick as a person," said Aleix Espargaro. "I know him very well from a long time ago, we have very good relations. I've been training with him the last three days here on the bicycle and he didn’t know anything. The only thing I can say is I feel very sorry."

Asked how difficult it can be to contain the frustration of a mechanical problem, the Aprilia rider added:

"Sometimes I've been very angry and had bad reactions when I had problems, but you have to understand that this is a team. When I crash, they don’t blame me, they don’t hit me.

"So when the engine stops sometimes, it's frustrating, but you have to think twice and breathe.

"I'm not saying that what he did is good, but when you are 'hot' anything can happen. But there is a big 'branch' behind us, Maverick with Yamaha or me with Aprilia, so you have to be clever sometimes and think twice."

Vinales and Yamaha had already announced an early contract separation at the end of this season and it now remains to be seen if the nine-time MotoGP race winner will ride an M1 again.

Although still to confirm his 2022 plans, it is expected that Vinales and Espargaro will be team-mates at Aprilia next season, but an official announcement is yet to be made. "I don’t know who will be my team-mate yet. It's not decided," insisted Espargaro.

Meanwhile, Ducati's Jack Miller was adamant that regardless of how frustrated you feel on-track, you can never throw in the towel.

"No matter if I crash, if I've stalled the bike on the grid, no matter what happens, the race is never over. It's only over if you give up, because anything can happen, a red flag or whatever," he said.

"You've seen multiple times that I've picked my bike up and continued to race with the thing bent in half or whatever. I stalled the bike on the grid in the hottest racetrack that we go to, in Thailand, started from pit lane and pushed my arse off to try to get through to one point.

"Simply because that's what you do, you're a racer, that's what you get paid for, to go racing. To try to beat the next guy in front of you."

Asked if Vinales' alleged behaviour was acceptable, Miller added:

"Sorry to say, but you're not doing what you get paid for, which is to race a motorcycle to the best of your ability. No matter the temper or whatever. I'm not saying either party is right or wrong, it is what it is, that's between them.

"But at the end of the day, it's a relatively simple thing. You get paid to ride a motorcycle. We're not here to be an influencer, we're not here to be whatever these idiots want us to be.

"We get paid to race motorcycles. Full stop... And talk to you dickheads!" he laughed.