Quartararo hit with Hungarian GP penalty after first-corner sprint shunt

Fabio Quartararo will serve a long-lap penalty in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix after causing a race-defining collision at the first corner of the sprint race on Saturday.

The factory Yamaha rider ran into Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) after arriving at the first corner far too quickly on an inside line. His actions also heavily compromised the races of Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi and KTM’s Pedro Acosta.

The Frenchman was unwilling to grovel following the race and did not explicitly take the blame in his media briefing. Bastianini, however, did reveal that the 2021 world champion had visited his pit after the race to offer his apologies.

It was a highly uncharacteristic error for Quartararo, who is rarely guilty of misjudgments that take out other riders. And most of his peers took the view that such a mistake was understandable given the tight nature of the track as well as the short run to a slow first corner.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Enea Bastianini, Red Bull KTM Tech 3

Photo by: Qian Jun / MB Media / Getty Images

Bezzecchi, for example, commented: “It’s something that can happen, I completely understand. It happens to every one of us.

“It’s normal – we always try to make the best, we try to race to win. And when you have the possibility and you know that the first corner is so crucial, especially at this track, you try obviously to maximise everything. I can’t blame Fabio.”

The stewards did not take such a lenient view on Saturday evening, however. Given that this was Quartararo’s first such offence of the season, the long lap was deemed an appropriate penalty.

Bastianini was also penalised after the race, but for an incident further along the first lap. The Italian's incident with Johann Zarco took the Repsol Honda rider out of the race and was deemed irresponsible riding - his second such offence for this season following a brush with Jack Miller at Le Mans. As such, the Tech3 KTM rider will have to serve a double long-lap penalty.