Bagnaia says his MotoGP crashes have nothing to do with pressure of leading

The reigning world champion slid out of the Americas Grand Prix two weeks ago while leading, marking the fourth time he has done this since 2020.

Crashing twice in three grands prix in 2023, Bagnaia in Austin blamed his falls on the new Ducati being too stable, which meant it was harder to feel the front end.

On the eve of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, Bagnaia somewhat backtracked on these comments, noting that he has to “be smarter” in race situations.

However, he rejected suggestions that he is more susceptible to crashes while leading because of the added pressure.

“How many races did I win while I was leading?,” he began.

“So, I think this question doesn’t have a correct answer. My normal win is I lead and I push to control the gap.

“This is my way to win. Maybe I have to start working on a different way to win. Maybe it was better to let Alex [Rins] pass [me in Austin] and see what happened.

“But my type of win is that one [to lead from the start], I always won from Moto2 like this, I never had a lack of concentration, never had a lack of performance.

“So, I was never feeling the pressure to push too much. I was just considering that the pace was strong, but it was possible to remain on it and it’s more or less the same situation. I don’t think it’s a matter of crashing because I’m leading.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Asked about changing his approach after analysing the data from his Austin crash, Bagnaia added: “We are thinking about it. We have tried to work on something that we don’t have, like in the race, because I crashed.

“I learned that the potential of our bike has to be the same, it has to remain as is. It’s more I have to learn the situation, because after I [I crashed] I spoke with my team, I spoke also at home with my people, and sincerely it’s more difficult going two tenths slower by yourself than going two tenths slower because of your bike.

“But, it’s better [the former] right now because if I understand the situation like I did in Portimao, or in the [Austin] sprint race, you have an advantage.

“So, it’s better to follow like this and try to be smarter in some situations.”

Having surrendered 45 points in two grands prix, Bagnaia trails VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi by 11 points in the championship coming to this weekend’s event at Jerez.