Two major clashes in the Balaton Park sprint placed both Fabio Quartararo and Enea Bastianini under scrutiny, but the penalties handed down by the stewards differed in severity – why is that?
Quartararo’s incident came right off the start on the way into Turn 1. The Yamaha rider braked late on the dirty side of the track, ran into Fabio Di Giannantonio, Marco Bezzecchi, and Pedro Acosta, and ultimately struck Bastianini.
The Frenchman’s day ended on the spot, while his victim, magically managing to stay upright, continued with a damaged bike.
🚥 LIGHTS OUT in the #TissotSprint 🚥@marcmarquez93 nails the start as Fabio Quartararo gets it all wrong at T1 😱#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/NLAo9kXKqJ
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 23, 2025
Stewards deemed the move a “dangerous situation” with direct consequences for Bastianini’s race.
For a first offence, Quartararo was given a single long-lap penalty for Sunday’s grand prix race.
Bastianini’s crash followed later on the same lap at Turn 9, when he ran into Johann Zarco.
He argued that the hit from Quartararo had broken his ride-height device, making it impossible for him to slow the bike properly despite braking earlier than his usual marker.
His Tech3 KTM team presented data to support their case, but the FIM Stewards panel, responsible for all penalty decisions, remained unconvinced.
Also @Bestia23 & @JohannZarco1 are out of contention 💔 #HungarianGP 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/RmM8zePHJu
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 23, 2025
Zarco described the move as “crazy,” and the stewards ruled Bastianini guilty of “riding in an irresponsible manner, causing a crash.”
The difference to Quartararo’s penalty came from the context of another race weekend. While the Frenchman had been well-behaved so far in 2025, Bastianini already had one prior offence coming into this weekend.
Under MotoGP’s progressive penalty system, repeat offences escalate the punishment.
As a result, Bastianini received a double long-lap penalty, significantly harsher than Quartararo’s sanction.
No matter the severity of the penalties, though, given overtaking is near impossible around the Balaton Park, both Quartararo’s and Bastianini’s chances at a good Sunday race result in Hungary are ruined.
