Unfair reputation? Penalised Morbidelli feels singled out

VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli has pushed back against the idea that he is the worst offender when it comes to disturbing his MotoGP rivals' fast laps.

Morbidelli had already come into 2025 with a reputation in MotoGP circles for being less adept than some of his peers for getting out of the way. This was thrust into the spotlight after the infamous slap on the helmet he received from Aleix Espargaro during practice for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix - with Espargaro apologetic afterwards but also pointing out that Morbidelli has been "[for] one year and a half cruising all around the world on tracks - it's his attitude, he has no respect for nobody".

That particular disagreement was smoothed over, but in 2025 Morbidelli was penalised by the new stewards' panel as early as the first Friday of the season in Thailand - when he prevented his good friend Pecco Bagnaia from completing a Q2-worthy lap.

This penalty has now been followed by another three-place grid penalty at Silverstone, this time for a run-in with another good friend (and another fellow Valentino Rossi protege) Marco Bezzecchi.

Morbidelli disturbed Bezzecchi by returning through the racing line in the middle of the Maggotts-Becketts section while Bezzecchi was pushing behind him, forcing the Aprilia rider to bail out of the lap. A remonstrating Bezzecchi then went grass-cutting on the outside of the corner.

In normal qualifying (or end-of-practice) circumstances this would be a slam-dunk penalty regardless of the rider committing the offence, but there was the potential mitigation of the fact it was the middle of the session. The lap Bezzecchi had ruined was being carried out on medium tyres - so was not one in which he was making a genuine 'time attack' attempt at securing a spot in Q2.

But a penalty was issued still, with the three-place grid drop - to be served for Sunday's grand prix but not Saturday's sprint - described by Morbidelli as "another big hit for us", the first "big hit" being the fact he'd missed out on a Q2 spot himself after losing confidence in a crash earlier in the session.

But, pertinently, he also felt his image as someone who impedes rivals habitually is being exaggerated.

Asked why this was happening "quite frequently" by MotoGP pitlane reporter Jack Appleyard, he said: "I wouldn't say 'quite frequently'. It's just twice in six races. 

"Talking about frequencies, we can open a big matter. I'm 'frequently' recorded [broadcast] when I do this - because I can swear to you, that this happens many times with other riders. But [for them] it just passes through. 

"I understand more [the penalty for] the episode in Thailand, which was time attack - but this time was in the middle of the session."

The logical explanation is that a rider with a 'clean' record would not have been penalised at all in this instance - and that, had it been a qualifying session (or the qualifying-like final minutes of Friday practice), Morbidelli would've incurred a bigger sanction still.

And he is aware of this. "The penalty for sure is because it's me having this kind of behaviour again, for sure," he said. "If you put it that way, I'll take the penalty with no problem.

"But this, for sure, opens up a topic for many other occasions when it will happen - because it happens to everybody in the middle of a session, to be slow on the line and to have moments. 

"I had myself these kinds of moments in these first six races at least three-four times. But the things didn't get recorded, and I didn't go to complain about it. 

"So... that's the situation. I accept it, I understand it as well. That's it."