Francesco Bagnaia suggests a MotoGP points tweak: could it work?

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia believes MotoGP should look into adjusting the points system to include bonuses under the current sprint/grand prix format.

MotoGP’s points system has remained static since the introduction of the four-stroke era, with 25 points offered for a grand prix victory on a sliding scale down to one to cover the top 15 positions.

When sprint races were introduced in 2023, an additional 12 points were added to the maximum take home from each grand prix weekend: 12 for a win, nine for second, seven for third on a sliding scale to one for ninth.

With 37 points available per weekend now, the need for consistency has become even more vital in a rider’s hopes to win the championship.

In 2024, Bagnaia won 11 grands prix but eight non-scores meant he still lost out by 10 points to Jorge Martin. The Pramac rider only won three Sunday races, but consistency was vital for Martin as he achieved podiums in all but three sprints.

“You have to adapt to what the rules are, also because the system we have right now allowed me to fight for the title until the end, even if I did eight zeros,” Bagnaia said last year at Ducati’s Campioni in Pista event.

“However, sprint races affect several fronts, so that's something extra. It has certainly changed a lot the way of scoring points in a weekend.

“You have to get used to it. Although with the introduction of sprint races, they should consider incorporating some bonuses, perhaps for winning both races or for the fastest lap.”

In 2024, Bagnaia did five sprint/grand prix doubles. Assume a bonus point for each, that puts him five points closer to Martin in the championship. Six GP fastest laps adds six more to his tally - though two fastest lap points for Martin across the season still wins him the championship, as does one sprint/GP double.

Points for fastest laps is something Formula 1 has had a similar system in place since 2019, though only for drivers inside the top 10. The idea behind this was to inject a little bit of excitement and incentivise drivers further down to push for a potentially important extra point.

But it never really had that effect, with the point often going to a driver with so much gap in front and behind them that they could pit safely on the penultimate lap for a fresh soft tyre and push for fastest lap.

This rule is being scrapped for the 2025 season.

In MotoGP, a point for fastest lap would actually work more how F1 envisaged its would. Shorter races means field spread isn’t as big as F1. The closeness of the field in terms of competitive machinery would also give more riders a chance at gaining a point and have it decided on pure pace rather than race circumstance.

CAN A MOTOGP RULE CHANGE WORK?

In 2024, eight different riders managed to set the fastest lap in a grand prix. Pedro Acosta set two; Bagnaia six; Martin two; Enea Bastianini three; Maverick Vinales, Aleix Espargaro and Fabio Di Giannantonio one; Marc Marquez four.

While this wouldn’t have significantly altered the outcome of the championship, it would have lifted Acosta into sixth equal on points with team-mate Brad Binder, but taking the position by virtue of his greater podium haul.

There is an argument to be made that the very thought of an extra point changes the dynamic of any racing situation completely. A rider is more likely to rejoin a race after a light crash if they know they can come away with two points for finishing 15th instead of just one. If the fastest lap point was to be applied to sprints, there may be more excitement outside of the main points scoring places too.

Bagnaia’s thoughts weren’t shared by his incoming Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez, who said: “For me, it's fine as it is now. The system is balanced, because it allows the championship to remain open until the end, so I'm happy with how it is now.”

Marquez’s comment isn’t untrue. The current format has seen the championship go down to the wire for the past two years. But MotoGP could also look to British Superbikes for a fun way of making a big deal out of a rider doing a clean sweep of a weekend.

In recent years, BSB ran a Spring Grand Slam contest spread over two rounds where a rider could win £50,000 for scoring victories in all six races. While that would be extreme for MotoGP, the series could toy with a similar idea.

If a rider completes a sprint/race double as well as getting the fastest lap in a grand prix, they could gain three additional points to their haul - bring the potential weekend total up to 40. If they can’t do that treble, they get nothing.

The incentive for every session is heightened by this, while a rider whose main championship rival is about to achieve this treble will perhaps push a bit harder to snatch fastest lap away and stop the other from gaining three crucial points.

Purists will always argue against any kind of change like this, branding it artificial and ‘not in the spirit of MotoGP’. But the introduction of sprints has largely busted this notion, proving that a major format change can be made and it quickly become part of the furniture.