“How am I? Disappointed and angry with myself”, Pecco Bagnaia doesn’t mince his words when he comments on a sixth place that didn’t go down well. After last Sunday’s strategic mistake, the Italian seemed to have learned his lesson and everything was going very well until he went 7 laps from the end of Turn 1, ruining his hopes for a good result.
“The holeshot device didn’t work well, I couldn’t insert it – he explained – It’s not easy to hook up, especially when you have to stop at a certain point, like on the starting grid. Without this problem it would have been a different race for me, I would have tried to set my pace.
Instead?
“Instead, I was twelfth on the first lap, but still had great pace and was able to recover. I was able to manage the race well until the braking error in the first corner. I have to learn from what happened because that is not an acceptable mistake for a factory driver. “
Was your potential greater?
“When I was behind Zarco I started managing the race and thinking about the last part, I let the tire breathe for 2 or 3 laps. Then Quartararo overtook me, on the straight I was in the air tunnel created by Johann’s bike and it was impossible to stop at the first corner. It was a serious mistake that cost me the podium. I had the pace to win so I’m angry, the added confidence also made me make mistakes. It’s not nice to have lost so many points ”.
Does this defeat hurt a lot?
“Last Sunday I was happy about the podium, it was my first race in the works team, but not today. Together with Quartararo, I was one of the fastest drivers on the track, on the last lap I drove 1’55.1, which was my best time in the previous race. “
What is your morale like?
“I’m disappointed and angry with myself. After the comeback, I misjudged myself in this braking zone, ignored the slipstream and unfortunately we were all close together, so I lost a lot of time. It also took me a long time to overtake Jack and I couldn’t catch up with the other drivers.
Is there no reason to see the glass half full?
“I can feel the impact, but I understood a lot on these two weekends. In the end, I’m fourth in the championship and not too far from first; it’s too early to make hasty judgments. In terms of results, however, it has not gone well, there is work to be done “.
Yamaha won the two races in Qatar, are you surprised?
“You worked a lot in the winter and are very competitive on this track, at Ducati level. We have a lot of power, but they have more traction, So it was difficult for me to overtake her on the straight. I would say it was a balanced situation ”.
Watch the video below with Bagnaia’s explanations.