It's not often in motorsport that you see a driver miss a race through a ban, and it's almost unheard of for such a ban to come from within your own team. When you're banned by your own team, for trying to destroy your own bike - well, that's a new one.
Incredibly, that's the fate that has fallen Maverick Vinales after last Sunday's Styrian motorcycle grand prix. His team, Movistar Yamaha, said that he had been suspended for endangering other riders - and the onboard footage doesn't look good.
Maverick Vinales suspended by Yamaha
The riders return to the track in Styria again this weekend, for the Austrian Grand Prix, but Maverick Vinales will not be one of them after the decision from Yamaha to suspend the Catalan native.
In a statement about their decision, the team said:
Yamaha regrets to announce that Maverick Viñales’ entry to this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP event has been withdrawn by the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team.
The absence follows the suspension of the rider by Yamaha due to the unexplained irregular operation of the motorcycle by the rider during last weekend’s Styria MotoGP race.
Yamaha’s decision follows an in-depth analysis of telemetry and data over the last days.
Yamaha’s conclusion is that the rider’s actions could have potentially caused significant damage to the engine of his YZR-M1 bike which could have caused serious risks to the rider himself and possibly posed a danger to all other riders in the MotoGP race.
The suggestion that Vinales' riding was dangerous to other riders is a huge accusation, but the onboard footage of the incident in question does look damning.
Why did Yamaha withdraw Maverick Viñales from the #AustrianGP? 👀
Ride on board with the Spaniard on the final lap 👇#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/h3hcntG5xj— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 13, 2021
The video seems to show Vinales intentionally burning out the engine on the final lap of the race by revving past the limiter consistently. He also chose not to see the chequered flag, instead pulling into the pits and walking away from his bike without an explanation.
An extended video of the incident from MotoGP also shows earlier footage of Vinales cruising on the bike with his hands off the handlebars, and more revving past the limiter. He also rode at a leisurely pace, particularly on the final lap, which was 12 seconds slower than his average lap time.
It's a simply extraordinary situation. Autosport have reported that multiple sources at the track noticed "erratic" driving from Vinales, and that his clutch was engaged.
Vinales has consistently been one of the front runners in the MotoGP field since arriving at Yamaha in 2017, but has yet to win a world championship.
The talk of the paddock! 💬
Maverick Viñales is watching the action at Turn 3! 👀#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/gao7T9C0A6— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 13, 2021
As the riders took to the track on Friday for the first practice session, Vinales was spotted watching the action on the inside of turn 3, in a Yamaha shirt.
The widely held opinion, however, is that it is unlikely we will ever see Maverick Vinales ride for Yamaha again. He has had a frosty relationship with the team for nearly three years now, down to a combination of mechanical faults, lack of performance, and Vinales' hotheaded personality.
The decision to intentionally destroy a multi-million dollar engine, coupled with the potential to endanger other riders, means it is surely out of the question he will ever ride for the team again. He is scheduled to leave the team at the end of 2021 regardless, but his actions in Styria have surely only sped up that process.
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