Pedrosa was attacking Rossi for fourth place on lap 15 and managed to go past the Italian on the main straight.

However, he had to narrowly squeeze through a small gap between the Yamaha and the edge of the track, with Rossi moving to the inside.

The Honda rider, who went on to take second, said Rossi's defense was "not fair".

"If you see the image, I was on the white line completely," Pedrosa explained.

"I was on the white line and my handlebar was that [indicates a small gap between finger and thumb] from his handlebar, so I don’t see this is a fair move.

"You can go to the left but to go to the line, and make the other guy go off the track at 300km/h, it’s not the best thing.

"Too tight, too tight, not to give room to the rest. Not so nice, but fortunately I could go and pass him in that moment and then keep going forward to the podium."

Getting stuck behind Vinales cost victory shot

Pedrosa completed the race with the fastest lap and strong pace in the final stages, finishing just eight tenths behind teammate Marc Marquez.

However, he only started his charge after spending the first 12 laps behind Maverick Vinales, and Pedrosa feels that was key in him missing out on the win.

"Unfortunately I did too many laps behind Maverick and there I lose a little bit of the gap at the beginning," said Pedrosa.

"But later we both improved the pace, and when I got past him, I could really catch the front group.

"But Marc was in the lead already and he could a little bit play with the gap but I was feeling quite strong, so I'm very happy, I think I did the best race today of all and I'm very proud of my team.

"I can say that I'm happy because the rhythm at the end was strong and I can make a lot of passes. "

Marquez said he was wary of Pedrosa late in the race, as he saw him closing in.

"When I catch Lorenzo, I said 'okay now it is time to push, time to keep my pace', because I saw that Dani was coming faster and faster," said Marquez.

"He was pushing, I was watching on the board and he was pushing and, of course, he tried to win.

"Even on the last I saw that 0.8 only, I mean still he believed but I was trying to manage the risk with the distance."