In the early stages of Saturday morning’s third practice of the weekend (officially designated as FP2), Espargaro and Morbidelli came together on track.
Morbidelli had just passed the Aprilia at Turn 5 before Espargaro tried to do the same at Turn 6, with the pair connecting as they tried to turn in.
Both ran wide at Turn 6 before an irate Espargaro struck Morbidelli’s crash helmet as the Italian gesticulated to the Aprilia rider to calm down.
The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM MotoGP stewards, who have hit Espargaro with a €10,000 fine and a six-place grid drop for the grand prix for what it deemed was unsportsmanlike behaviour.
A statement from the stewards read: “On 18 November 2023 at 15:07.19, during Grand Prix of Qatar Free Practice 2 session, you were observed to have behaved in an aggressive manner including physically striking number 21 [Morbidelli].
“This contravenes Article 3.2.2.2 of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship Regulations [stating] 'any corrupt or fraudulent act, or any action of prejudicial to the interests of the meetings or of the sport, carried out by a person or a group of persons occurring during an event'.
Source: Autosport