Mir and Miller were discussing sixth place when the Suzuki rider came into contact with Miller in the left turn of Turn 15 on the final tour.
Race Direction then demoted Mir by one position for the clash and left him in eighth place behind Miller.
Both Miller and Mir had an argument back in 2021 when the couple first contacted them in Qatar earlier this year – and Mir joked that the stewards present at COTA must have been “on vacation” because of the earlier incident.
He apologized for contacting Miller but feels like he has no other choice as the Ducati rider used “strange” lines and believes the penalty he received was unfair.
“Well, first of all I would like to apologize for not making any contact during overtaking maneuvers,” said Mir when asked by Motorsport.com what happened to Miller.
“This is the first. I had big problems accelerating, I couldn’t overtake.
“He was a lot slower than me and I had to wait until the last few laps to prepare something.
“I made a great maneuver on the chicanes in the first sector, I was able to overtake him very well, but then we hit the straight and he just overtook me and gave me a few tenths [to claw back].
“Then he just closed the lines, he didn’t care about driving, he was only in the bends, almost straight. But it was a little strange.
“In the left [T15], in this corner it’s a good corner to overtake, then I took the inside and then he did in the second part of the braking [closed the door] and he just drew a really tight line that I wasn’t expecting.
“I touched the curb to avoid the impact, then I touched it a little. Fortunately, we didn’t crash.
“I think the penalty is utterly… I don’t understand because when all the races are like this, you don’t overtake – you just don’t try. Racing will lose its essence.
“Probably the stewards weren’t the same as in Qatar for what happened to me and Jack, they were probably on vacation. I do not respect the decision of the race management. “
Miller had tough words with Me on the cooldown lap at COTA, but didn’t go into many details later – only that it was a “recurring” thing for him.
“What happened was on my last lap, I was at Misano last week and again I was beaten and we were overtaken by two guys,” said Miller.
“So it is, Race Direction did what they did. There isn’t much to say about that, it’s just a recurring incident. ”
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP, Jack Miller, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images