Morbidelli opens up on battle to end run of MotoGP penalties

Franco Morbidelli has admitted that he is currently going through a “hot moment” as his brushes with officialdom continue to mount up in MotoGP 2025.

The comment comes in the light of a pair of transgressions last time out in Barcelona. First, the VR46 Ducati rider earned a long lap penalty in the grand prix for causing an accident with Jorge Martin in the sprint.

Then, in the Sunday race, he was sanctioned for “disobeying direct instructions from marshals”, earning him a fine and suspension from the first 10 minutes of FP1 at this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix.

The Catalan misdemeanours cemented Morbidelli’s status as the most heavily-penalised rider in 2025.

He opened the season with a three-place grid penalty for riding slowly on the racing line in Thailand, an offence he repeated at Silverstone. At the Italian Grand Prix he arguably escaped lightly when he received only a long lap penalty for taking out Maverick Vinales.

This all came on top of a 2024 season in which Morbidelli was penalised on three separate occasions for taking out other riders.

Ahead of this weekend’s race at Misano, however, he was at pains to point out that he was not involved in any disagreement with the marshals in Spain.

“What I would like to make clear is that I was not fighting with the marshals,” said Morbidelli. “Instead they pushed me to restart and I thanked them right after they helped me to restart the bike because it was a hell of a job to get the bike back from where I crashed.

“So this is the most important thing for me. I would like to make clear that I wasn’t rude with the marshals. Maybe I just rejoined the track in a site where I wasn’t supposed to restart.”

While the Roman was defensive over how his interaction with the course workers in Spain was perceived, he admitted that he is having a difficult time with MotoGP’s officials and has work to do in order to turn the situation around.

“Yes, for sure, it’s a hot moment for me,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of meetings with the steward panel. We have spoken a lot and they have tried to explain to me the way they view things and the way they judge things.

“It seems that lately… I struggle to apply exactly what they are asking me, because of the way I race, because of the way I am and the way I have always been. Definitely, definitely it’s a hot moment.

“It’s not the first time this has happened to a rider; that a rider has a close encounter with the people protecting them.

“As I always said, I’m always open to talking with the steward panel. I always respect their choice and I always try to apply what they are asking me. And probably it’s a process… and I’m still trying to complete this process.

“I hope to make it very quick, because for sure the penalties are becoming more and more.”