In his third season in the premier class, the Italian rose to the works squad of Ducati von Pramac.
After a solid start to the 2021 season, it was in the second half of the year that Bagnaia really got going.
Bagnaia won his first victory in Aragon after an exciting battle with Marc Marquez and won three more races on his way to second place in the championship.
He ends the season as arguably the strongest driver and goes into 2022 as the favorite to dethrone Fabio Quartararo.
On the latest Tank Slappers podcast – recorded just before Christmas – Bagnaia spoke to Lewis Duncan of Autosport and Oriol Puigdemont of Motorsport.com about his season, his rivalry with Quartararo and his relationship with Ducati teammate Jack Miller.