Francesco Bagnaia missed out on a third consecutive MotoGP crown in 2024 to Pramac’s Jorge Martin by ten points.
The Italian produced one of the best individual seasons in MotoGP history, winning 11 Grand Prix to Martin’s 3.
But the championship loss was due to the number of retirements across the season, as Bagnaia failed to score points in eight races – double the number of retirements his title rival Martin had.
Bagnaia pinpointed the turning point in his 2024 MotoGP championship bid and admitted that the point gap was too far to overcome.
“I will accept [losing the championship] in some days,” Bagnaia told the post-race press conference at the Solidarity Grand Prix.
“But after the crash in Malaysia I understood that it was more complicated, to gain 29 points was quite tough.
“But I just tried to do the maximum, winning all the races remaining, and I think it was the maximum I could do.”
The two-time MotoGP champion admitted that Martin’s consistency led to him winning the title.
“Jorge [Martin] did a better job. In terms of consistency he was better, he finished [16] times second during the season, so it’s something unbelievable.
“From our side, we just had a bit of bad luck, and I had also some mistakes, so it’s difficult to imagine winning a title with eight ‘zeros’.
“We also beat the number of points compared to last season with eight zeros. So, I think we did a very good job, and we almost dominate the races in terms of victories, but it wasn’t enough.
“For next year, I will have to learn from my season, to learn from some situations that happened this season, and try to be better.”
The factory Ducati rider was one of the first to congratulate Martin on winning the championship in parc ferme.
Bagnaia’s championship hopes ended, but he was happy to see his former Moto3 team-mate make history.
“I was just looking at Jorge,” Bagnaia said. “We know each other very well, and I think if someone had to win the title that is not me, I’m happy for him.
“He deserves it, he did a fantastic job, and I was just smiling seeing him celebrating because I know how nice that moment is.
“You try to arrive to this goal all your life, and as soon as you achieve it it’s the best emotion you can have. So, I was just smiling for what he achieved.”
Despite missing out on the title, Bagnaia’s 11 wins placed him among the most dominant seasons in MotoGP history.
He completed five Sprint and Grand Prix doubles, but he stated that he needs to improve in certain areas in 2025 to come back firing at all cylinders.
“I’m proud of the season, I’m proud of my team because they did an amazing job all season,” Bagnaia said.
“Every time I was having trouble they were helping me a lot to improve.
“I’m looking forward to [the post-race test on] Tuesday, I think that we have to try something great, we have to try the new bike and this is great.
“Then I will have the honeymoon, and I think it will help me a lot to relax.
“We have to say that in the last two seasons, the amount of things to do in a race weekend have increased a lot, and in terms of the mental side it’s tiring you more.
“So, races are becoming the things much easier to do in this moment.
“I’m proud of what we achieved this season, finishing second is not winning but it’s still a good result and we know why we finished second so we just have to improve.”
