Already brought up to date by the Ducati team at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix with the famous “Suggested Mapping 8” inflicted on Jorge Lorenzo for the benefit of Andrea Dovizioso, the team instructions seemed to reappear during the last Grand Prix of the Americas, still with the Borgo Panigale firm.
For those rare people who have not seen the race, let us remember that Francis Bagnaia, official Ducati rider, is today the only rider able to prevent Fabio Quartararo to be titled this season, and to give him more chances of blocking the way to the Frenchman, his teammate Jack Miller clearly let it pass in Austin, while we can give the benefit of the doubt to Jorge Martín, another rider directly linked to Ducati Corse although in a private team.
The two pilots, Francis Bagnaia et Jack Miller declared that they had acted on their own, out of simple common sense, effectively denying the slightest team instructions.
Francis Bagnaia : " I think Jack did it willingly. I was catching him by half a second per lap and he didn't force me to make an aggressive maneuver. He let me pass and I have to thank him, also for FP4. I think we work well as a team and always help each other. We do the perfect job. »
Jack Miller : “At one point, I saw “Bagnaia -0” so I understood that it was coming. He had made up eight tenths and I was struggling. I didn't want to screw up his race any more than necessary, so I just told him "go ahead, pass." »
We will therefore not wonder in vain about the real role of this panel and, in the end, Francis Bagnaia concedes only 4 points to The Devil in the operation, whereas in the opposite case... let's be honest, we don't know!
But whatever ! Many of you have asked us if team instructions are authorized in MotoGP. The question is clear, as is the answer, after leafing through the 383 pages of the regulations concerned: Nowhere is there any mention of team instructions, including in the chapter devoted to “Behavior during practice and the race” .
Everything that is not explicitly prohibited is authorized, yes the team instructions are completely legal in MotoGP!
Therefore, why deny and/or camouflage team instructions?
It happens relatively often that the drivers themselves recognize that they are ready to help their teammate at the end of the season if the latter competes for the title. On the other hand, it is extremely rare for a manufacturer to publicly admit to giving team instructions based on what is most advantageous for him.
The reason is simple: A team instruction today goes against fairness and the very spirit of sport. In the age of social networks, a title acquired thanks to this kind of unfair maneuver for the riders concerned could even turn against its author: The public, who pay to see MotoGP, are not stupid and only hear the best driver of a team on the track finishes ahead of his teammate, whatever the stakes in the world championship for their manufacturer! Otherwise, you might as well go see a wrestling match…
Why not ban team instructions?
As is often the case, the answer to this question lies in the history of Formula 1, which faces exactly the same problem as MotoGP. F1 therefore tried to stem the phenomenon by banning team orders from 2003 to 2010.
But it is too easy to circumvent such a ban, whether by a coded message, a simple sign prepared in advance or even a strategy developed before the race.
Worse, we even experienced the “Crashgate” scandal during this period of prohibition, when Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally crashed his Renault against the wall to help his teammate win Fernando Alonso at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, on behalf of Flavio Briatore !
As a result, the Italian was initially excluded for life from the world of Formula 1 (judgment subsequently annulled) and the ban on team instructions was removed from the F1 regulations in 2011.
Today, whether in Formula 1 or MotoGP, team instructions are therefore authorized, but especially used on four wheels.
Fortunately, they are rarely used in MotoGP, to the great satisfaction of spectators, although, obviously, we cannot imagine the reaction and debates of the public if at the end of the season Francesco Bagnaia beat Fabio Quartararo by a single point...
