Tech3 MotoGP team boss Guenther Steiner says he has "never had to deal with" a situation like the one he has faced with Maverick Vinales' injury this season. The 10-time MotoGP race winner has been battling an ongoing shoulder injury all season, which has severely impacted his results.
An undiagnosed tear was discovered in the injury site during the summer break, with Vinales withdrawing from this weekend's British Grand Prix. But this also came days after reports surfaced claiming KTM was looking for ways to bench him for the rest of the season - something Vinales shot down on social media.
Speaking to the media, including Crash, about Vinales, Steiner said on Friday at the British Grand Prix: "Obviously, this situation came out, nobody picked it - not even him, we have to be fair. The underlying thing is there is a health issue with his shoulder. I don't know the exact detail; I'm not a doctor."
"For me, the most important thing is he gets healthy for his own sake. Whether you ride a motorbike or not, you need to fix your body first and then we see. And that is the status. I think it's down to the doctors at the moment to get him back to being fit again," he added.
Asked by Crash if he had ever faced anything like this before in his career, Steiner replied: "No. A very quick answer, no. Because normally, you know what the person has got and what to do. But at the moment, we don't really know, not even the doctors can decide what is to be done. So, I've never had to deal with something like this."
Steiner suggested that the intention is for Vinales to see out the season if he is fit, but "I don't think it's been decided what needs to be done next. But we need to wait and see. I don't think that's been decided yet what needs to be done next and I don't want to overstep my knowledge about the situation. That's why I won't comment more on it because I'm not a doctor."
Steiner added that much of Vinales' communication takes place directly with KTM, rather than with the team, owing to his contract situation. Vinales has been very vocal about what he feels has been unfair treatment from KTM in recent weeks over his future, while also noting in Germany that "all I get is criticism" from the team. Asked by Crash if the blame for the fallout has to be 50/50 between Vinales and KTM, he said: "You are right there: to tango, it always takes two. We need to be honest about that one. This is before me and who am I to judge this?"
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