Bagnaia will learn to finish fifth instead of crashing after MotoGP title defeat

Bagnaia knows he needs to work on his consistency and cut down on errors after failing to defend his title this year

Francesco Bagnaia says he will learn that it’s better to accept defeat than go over the limit and crash, as he seeks to retake the MotoGP title in 2025.

Despite winning 11 of the 20 grands prix this year, plus seven additional victories in sprints, factory Ducati rider Bagnaia lost out on this year’s championship to the more consistent Jorge Martin from the satellite Pramac Ducati team.

The Italian’s campaign was marred with misfortune and unforced errors, with a number of crashes from leading positions - including in the penultimate sprint race at Sepang - leaving him chasing Martin in the points table for the majority of the year.

Bagnaia took victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix earlier this month and followed that up with a double triumph in Barcelona, but it wasn’t enough to usurp the points advantage Martin had built with fewer first-place finishes.

Following the finale, the two-time champion revealed that he has identified several areas where he must improve during the winter break to come back stronger next year. 

This includes giving up positions when he is not the fastest rider on a given day, instead of fighting too hard for the win and crashing out.

“We can be very satisfied and very happy [with 2024], but for next year we have to improve in some areas,” he said.

“I have to understand better maybe some situations because I've been taken out three times by other riders, I had an issue with the bike, then I crashed four times for very small things. 

“I have to improve and I will try to do it for next year.

“I'm a rider that never gives up, [but] sometimes it's better to think more and maybe finish in fifth or fourth than crash and this is something that I will learn.”

He added: “I just tried to do the maximum in all the three races and it wasn't enough because Jorge this season learned that sometimes it is better to be passed and finish second than winning. 

“He did a fantastic job, he deserves the title.”

Bagnaia suffered an early blow to his championship hopes when he ended up on the ground after a collision with Gresini’s Marc Marquez in the Portugal Grand Prix.

Another DNF followed in Jerez when he was sandwiched by KTM’s Brad Binder and VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi, and he was also taken out of the Emilia Romagna GP by the other Gresini bike of Alex Marquez.

While it was hard to apportion blame on Bagnaia in any of the incidents, he said he could still change his approach while fighting with other riders on track not to give away important points in the championship.

“The first thing I will have to learn is to understand the situations better,” he said.

“It's true that three out of these eight zeroes come from strange situations; the one in Portimao with Marc, the one with Jerez with Brad and the one with Alex Marquez in Aragon. 

“In all three, it's true that I've been taken out by other riders, but all three were situations that maybe I could avoid. 

“The one with Marc – he was faster, so maybe wait and don't cross the line. I'm saying that now but when I'm racing I just want to arrive more in front than I can, but maybe from next year I will improve [on] that. 

“The one with Alex Marquez I was clearly faster by four tenths, and I didn't wait because he was wide so I said, ‘okay, it's my moment’ - and then he touched me and made me crash. 

“The one with Brad was the same. I think I have to learn from my mistakes.”