VR46 MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli has doubled down on his criticism of Honda’s Aleix Espargaro following their tangle at the British Grand Prix, saying “I c🌌ould have been worse”.

The pair collided on the opening lap of the British GP at the Vale chicane, when HRC wildcard 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Aleix Espargaro crashed and took 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Franco Morbidelli with him.

No stew🌳ards action was taken on the incident, though both had strong opposing views after the Silverstone race.

Morbidelli - who suffered a foot fracture in the clash - said Espargaro has “always had something extra for me”, eluding t𝄹o a number of incidents the pair have had over the years.

Asked on Thursday ahead of the Aragon G𝄹rand Prix if he felt his comments were harsh and if his opinion had changed, Morbidelli dou𝓡bled down.

“I’m sorry to hear that I was harsh because I could have been much, much worse,” Morbidelli, who was able to take the r꧋estart at Silverstone following a red flag and narrowly miss the podium, said.

“I wasn’t harsh. Under that point of view, ওI don’t change my thought an inch.

𝔉“I believe that what I had to experience on Sunday was not fair at all and was not the behaviour that a test rider should have against another rider competing for important positions in the championship - even though it was a mistake.

“There’s no doubt about that: Aleix Espargaro made a mistake on Sunday. But because ღthat mistake means many things.

“That mistake that a test rider is not collecting data for his fac🦩tory.

“It means he is racing against other riders in a way that makes h🦋im do mistakes while he’s doing what he’s supposed to do, which is just bring the package🧔 home and collect data, even more if you have the weekend that he had.

“So, clearly off the pace by two, two and a ha🐟lf seconds in every session, and then in the r🔯ace you crash in the first lap.

“That’s not an index 𝓀of doing your work properly. I had to pay for th♊at with a fracture on my foot and that’s frustrating.

“I could have been much harsher afte꧅r this episode.

“Instead I just said for sure he has something with me because of the fact he’s not able to do his job to the end, just to race in a way that a test rider is not ⛦supposed t꧃o race.

“I added that because of our history. That’s no secret, we had♕ episodes, so I thought ‘what’s the thing that made Aleix Espargaro come out of his working programme during a race where he wasn’t clearly racing with anyone else because he was two and half seconds slower’.

“Maybe it was me who found myself in that point of the race where I wasn’t supposed to but I had a bad start and I was there. So, that’s what happened and that’s what Iಞ said after the race.

“But that was the episode that gave me the red flag and be able to pi♛ck up the bike again.

“I do༺n’t know if I would have been able to make the race that I did without that because I was 18th at 🅷that moment. So, this is a thing that alleviates the frustration. But what I think is exactly the same.”

Espargaro apologised for his part in the incident, though hit back at Morbidelli’♛s criticism in the aftermath.