Bagnaia outlines plan if Quartararo is “close to me” - he won’t rely on Miller
Bagnaia will claim his first MotoGP championship if he finishes P14 or higher, or if Quartararo does not win.
The Ducati rider qualified in eighth, the reigning champion from Yamaha will start in fourth.
Bagnaia joked about teammate Miller: “I won’t pay anyone! Anyone can be my teammate for this race.
“It is difficult to do a strategy because it is impossible to predict what will happen.
“Maybe in the first two or three laps I have to take risks so I can then manage.
“I just say [to the team] that if Fabio is close to me, or behind me, then [the Ducati team should tell me on the pit board] and then I will decide what to do.”
Bagnaia said: “My thing tomorrow is not to win - just be calm, understand. I will take risks at the start to get a gap. But then just be smart.”
Asked who would win the race, he said: “I don’t know! Jorge Martin was very competitive. Miguel Oliveira was so competitive. Marc Marquez, Quartararo…
“I will just try not to be outside of the top 14.”
Bagnaia said about his performance in qualifying: “For sure I was expecting more. We were struggling with the front feeling. You feel less but can brake harder - it is strange.
“On this track it is not helping me. With used tyres we are competitive.
“The ideas that my team are having are good. They can help me.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
