The Spaniard was sat behind Jack Miller, Luca Marini and Marc Marquez in the early stages of Sunday’s grand prix at Mugello.
Coming into Turn 1, Marquez got out of shape on the brakes and came close to hitting all three riders as he ran wide into the corner.
Explaining what happened, Marquez claimed he was sucked into the mistake by the strong slipstream he had from the riders ahead and insisted he didn’t brake any later than he had done in previous laps.
“Yeah, it was really strange,” he said.
“I broke really early, and then Luca and Marc did a really strange movement at that point.
“And with the wings, it’s what we always say, the slipstream absorbs you directly. I was braking every time in the same pressure, but the bike was going [forward].
“So, at that point, I said ‘what do I need to do?’ And, luckily, they opened [a gap] a little bit and at that point I passed.
“I was not really late on the brakes, so it was a strange action honestly.
“When you lose all the downforce and more with two bikes [in front of you] it’s impossible. I said ‘fuck!’. I was shitting in my pants, honestly.”
Marquez sat in third after overtaking Marini on lap 13 but would crash out two tours later, which he blamed on being too confident into Turn 2 where he fell.
“Up to that point it’s true that I was suffering a little bit with the front tyre, but not at that point,” he explained.
“So, maybe I put the speed there with too much confidence. I was expecting to lose the front in every point except that one.
“So, I was too confident at that point, I went in a little more and touched the white line, there’s a little bump and I lost the front.
“So, it’s a shame because we were fighting for the podium. Maybe today I needed to say that ‘Ok, stop here, you’ll make a top five and we’ll start going’.
“But it was a podium and I tried for it.”