Francesco Bagnaia gets Mugello grid penalty for Alex Marquez incident - appeal rejected

Francesco Bagnaia has been handed a grid penalty for obstructing Alex Marquez during Friday practice for his home Italian MotoGP.

Marquez gestured angrily at the reigning double world champion after being held up in the closing stages, with the incident immediately placed under investigation by the FIM Stewards.

Bagnaia went on to comfortably lead the session, with Marquez in eighth place, meaning both progressed directly to Saturday’s Qualifying 2.

But on Friday evening, the MotoGP Stewards announced their verdict: Bagnaia received a 3-place grid penalty for Sunday's grand prix after ‘riding slow online [and] disturbing another rider #73 at Turn 12’.

Under the 'penalty protocol' issued to teams, the 3-place punishment reflects that the incident occurred during the last 20 minutes of practice (when riders are seeking progression into Q2) but also that it was Bagnaia's first offence.

An appeal against the penalty was rejected by the FIM Appeal Stewards, who 'confirmed the decision of the MotoGP Stewards panel'.

Before the decision, Alex Marquez said: “He was slow in the middle of the line and I was improving my lap time. So for me, it’s really clear. He didn’t turn [to look] at any time to see who was coming.

“I was on a hot lap, and he was completely in the middle [of the track]. Penalty or not, we will see.

“But after that incident, he went into the box. And when you are going into the box, you need to take care about the riders coming fast behind you.”

Bagnaia: Penalty would be 'ridiculous'

Immediately after the session Bagnaia, seeking his third Mugello victory in a row, brushed off the incident and labelled the #73 “a great showman” for his on-track reaction.

“[It was] Nothing… I was braking out of the [racing] line,” said Bagnaia. “He’s a great showman, for sure. It’s useless to do some [gestures] like this. But it makes a good show.

“In case, I receive a penalty for that… [it would] be ridiculous. I’m waiting but I don’t think I will receive a penalty.”

Alex’s older brother and Gresini Ducati team-mate Marc is currently in contention to join Bagnaia at the factory Ducati team in 2025, although title leader Jorge Martin is increasingly tipped to get the ride. 

Bagnaia is currently 39 points behind Martin, who was seventh fastest on Friday.