The Spaniard may have tried to deliberately destroy the engine of his Yamaha. He was suspended on Thursday.
The Austrian Grand Prix will take place on Sunday without Yamaha star Maverick Viñales. The 26-year-old Spaniard was suspended from his team on Thursday.
The day after it slowly crystallized what had happened. As motorsport-total.com writes, the following situation may have occurred last Sunday at the Styrian Grand Prix in Spielberg: After the race was stopped due to the fire accident, Viñales pitted like all the other drivers. He gave the team to understand that the engine was working perfectly.
The talk of the paddock! 💬
Maverick Viñales is watching the action at Turn 3! 👀 # AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/gao7T9C0A6
– MotoGP ™ 🏁 (@MotoGP) August 13, 2021
Nevertheless, the mechanics connected a laptop and changed the clutch. When the engine was restarted, the engine died, Viñales had to start from the pit lane and his race was lost. Although he finished the Grand Prix, he did not cross the finish line but drove into the pits after the last lap. There he is said to have tried willfully to destroy the engine. Although MotoGP bikes have a rev limiter, it is still possible to intentionally over-rev the engine.
Neither the team nor Viñales gave any comment on the incident. It is therefore unclear whether the Spaniard will drive again on the next race weekend at Silverstone (August 29). What is clear, however, is that the relationship between the team and the driver is completely broken.
