Rivalry

During his reign as 250cc champion, Lorenzo was known to be very aggressive in his riding, particlularly when overtaking others. He was penalised by suspending him from taking part in Malaysia in 2005. Lorenzo's tenure in the Fiat Yamaha team has been underscored by an intense rivalry between himself and his former team mate Valentino Rossi.^[35]
In 2011, Lorenzo was seen arguing with fellow rider Marco Simoncelli, who was under fire from Lorenzo for his dangerous riding. Simoncelli retorted by reminding Lorenzo of his race suspension after he was overly aggressive while overtaking a rider in 2005, which included last lap clashing of fairings with Pedrosa and moments later taking Alex de Angelis down. Lorenzo said, "if it doesn't come from you again there will be no problem". Simoncelli put even more fuel to the fire by saying "I will be arrested", to which a visibly angry Lorenzo reacted by saying, "this is no joke, we are playing with our lives here". Simoncelli claimed that he still had his leathers which were left blackened at the knee slider after a previous incident with Lorenzo at the final round of the 2010 season. At the Malaysian Grand Prix, a race Lorenzo missed due to injury, Simoncelli was killed in a second lap crash.