Bagnaia extended his championship lead over Pramac’s Jorge Martin to 14 points after finishing third in Sunday’s grand prix at Sepang, with the latter a distant fourth.
Coming into the weekend, Bagnaia commented that he had a “joker” to use in his championship battle with Martin, who already had a warning for riding below the minimum tyre pressure at the Thailand GP.
Bagnaia suggested it would be something he would look to exploit at the Qatar GP next week, but now no longer has that option.
He, as well as team-mate Bastianini – who won Sunday’s grand prix at Sepang, marking his first victory since Aragon 2022 – were found to have breached the minimum tyre pressure rule in the race.
Since it was their first offence, they keep their results. However, should they contravene the rule again, they will be awarded a three-second penalty.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro is so far the only rider to have received a sanction for breaking the tyre pressure rule, which was introduced from this year’s British GP.
He was hit with a three-second penalty in Thailand for committing a second offence.
Source: Autosport