Bagnaia apologizes for “harsh words” about Alex Marquez after the incident in Aragon

Francesco Bagnaia has apologised for being “a little too strong in his words” towards Alex Marquez following the collision at the Aragon Grand Prix last weekend.

Bagnaia had been chasing Marquez in the battle for third place before the Gresini rider lost the front of his GP23 at Turn 12, rejoined the track without looking and collided with Bagnaia, sending both riders out of the race.

Ducati's Bagnaia immediately criticised Marquez after the race, telling him he had ridden “dangerously” and suggesting that the Spaniard had deliberately caused them to crash.

However, when he faced the media ahead of this weekend's race in Misano, the two-time world champion apologised to Marquez for his comments.

“First of all, I would like to apologize to Alex for the harsh words I said to him,” said the Italian (via Motorsport.com).

“I said in the post-race interviews that I was very angry about what happened and looking at the telemetry data was even worse from my point of view.

“Anyway, I expressed myself a little too strongly. I didn't mean to say that he caused me to crash on purpose.

“The thing was that his defense was a bit aggressive, which is normal when you're fighting for podium places. I still feel the same about the incident, but my words were a bit too much and I'm sorry, Alex.

“Sometimes anger makes you say things you don't think about. From my perspective, he came to our office to apologize for what happened.

“Enough said. We are two drivers, we have two different views and respect.”

Marquez accepted Bagnaia's apology, considering the matter closed, but claimed the damage to his reputation had already been done.

The Gresini driver released a statement on his social media channels earlier this week, declaring that he would “never intentionally collide with another driver” following the heated reactions to the incident.

“I like the fact that he apologized and I am very grateful for his words,” said Marquez.

“But it is also true that the damage to me, my team and my image as a cyclist has already been done.

“[Having] Having said that, I would like to close this chapter. I don't want to talk about it anymore, I'm looking forward to it.

“We come from a really positive weekend in Aragon and are looking forward [to Misano].”