What Francesco Bagnaia said to Ducati team in the garage after devastating Grand Prix of Malaysia crash

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Francesco Bagnaia made a season-defining error during the Sprint at last season’s Grand Prix of Malaysia. The Ducati rider lost critical ground to title rival Jorge Martin.

Coming into the weekend, the penultimate round of the season, Bagnaia was just 17 points behind Martin in the title race. With 74 points still on offer, the Spaniard was under enormous pressure.

Bagnaia cranked up that pressure by taking pole position, but he lost the lead into the first corner. As he tried to chase down Martin on lap three, he lost control of the bike at turn nine, slipping into the gravel.

He was visibly devastated after the slippery conditions caught him out. Martin would go on to win the race.

That meant he extended his advantage to 29 points. Bagnaia responded by winning the main Grand Prix on Sunday and also swept the Solidarity GP weekend, but it wasn’t enough to overhaul Martin.

Francesco Bagnaia claimed he can’t ‘do anything’ with Ducati bike after Grand Prix of Malaysia error

The final episode of MotoGP’s ‘There Can Be Only One‘ documentary, which recaps the 2024 season, shows how Bagnaia reacted in the garage after his Sepang off. He couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.

The Sprints were a persistent issue for the two-time world champion. As the table below shows, he suffered five Saturday retirements over the course of the year.

Four of these were down to errors, with Bagnaia also crashing out from the lead on MotoGP’s first visit to Barcelona in May. He told his Ducati engineers that the GP24 felt different in the shorter format.

He claimed it wouldn’t comply with his inputs, and didn’t allow him to brake late. Thus, he refused to take full responsibility in the immediate aftermath.

“I don’t understand, I can’t,” he said. “When I’m there in the Sprint, the bike doesn’t allow me to either attack or be close to anyone.

“I can’t brake hard. At the start of the longer race, I can do everything we’ve decided to do. For the short race, I can’t do anything. Never.”

Pecco Bagnaia’s ‘you know perfectly well’ message to Marc Marquez after Portimao crash

Bagnaia thought about his errors on his honeymoon but hopes they’ll make him stronger in 2025. He faces perhaps the ultimate test, with Marc Marquez now on the same machinery.

Having largely been a spectator in last year’s title fight, Marquez put Bagnaia’s mistakes down to ‘risks’. Towards the end of the season, it was imperative that he beat Martin, while the Spaniard could afford damage limitation.

It’s also worth remembering that Bagnaia lost 11 points by hitting his future teammate at the Grand Prix of Portugal, right at the beginning of the season. The stewards deemed the clash a racing incident.

Marquez and Bagnaia had a tense exchange outside the stewards’ room afterwards. The Italian told his rival ‘you know perfectly well there’s another rider on the inside’.