Images 💧of Marc Marquez's mechanic holding the clutch lever as the Spaniard changed bikes during Sunday's German MotoGP caused some to jump to the wrong conclusion.

A directive issued to teams𝄹 prior to the event stated that, for safety reasons, the rider must put the second bike into gear himself when he switches machines.

Previ♔o🃏usly the second bike could be put into gear before the rider arrived, increasing the risk of a pit lane incident during the handover.

Although the mechanic was holding the clutch lever, data confirmed that it had be🍸en race winner Marquez who put the bike into gear.

MotoGP race director Mike Webb explained: "Marquez didꦑ it in warm-up (pictured) so we went along and [Repsol Honda] said, 'we hold the c🎃lutch lever so he can jump on the bike and put it into gear as he goes'.

"So the bike is in neut🀅ral when he arrives and they are following exactly the directive that I've given them, which is; the rider puts the bike into gearﷺ.

"I asked Danny [Aldridge, technical director] to check the data and confirm that it was in neuℱtral. So I'm happy that the change was fine, they knew what they were doing and knew the rules."