Rossi was running ahead of Marquez as the duo were on their last laps in qualifying and the Honda rider pulled off a tight move at Curvone.

That manoeuvre compromised Marquez's line and he ran off-track, which allowed Rossi, whose lap was ruined by the first move, to overtake him back, and the pair nearly collided.

Marquez and Rossi were called in by race direction afterwards but no action was taken, while Marquez said that he didn't know what Rossi's "intention" was.

But, giving his own version of events, the Yamaha man said that Marquez was aware that he would ruin Rossi's lap with his overtake.

"I was thinking [more] Argentina 2018, when he knocked me out without restraint," Rossi joked when asked if the clash reminded him of his infamous Sepang 2015 run-in with Marquez.

"I was on my hot lap, I was pushing 100 percent and he overtook me in the fast corner in Turn 11 and he already made me lose a lot of time.

"But for overtaking me, he go on the green [run-off], so I try to stay more inside and try to re-overtake in the hairpin but I arrive wide. At the end we lose all the chance to do the laptime.

"He tried to pass me in the Curvone knowing that he was ruining my lap and to overtake me he also went [to the] green. I then tried to overtake him, but I went a bit long.

"I'm sorry because, apart from this thing that can happen, I was hoping to be faster in qualifying and to start further ahead, because the pace is not bad.

"I'm seventh [on the grid] anyway, but it's going to be tough because there are so many of them who are strong."

Marquez noted that Rossi himself exceeded track limits earlier in the track, but Rossi explained that he wasn't sure if he went off-track, so he kept pushing for the rest of the lap.

"I didn't know that I touched the green," he said. "I was pushing and I thought that I was not on the green. I was on my hot lap because it was my last chance. I see later on the paper that I touched the green."

Additional reporting by Matteo Nugnes