“How many races did I win when leading?” Bagnaia hits back over pressure claims
Often victorious when he starts from pole, gets the holeshot and controls the pace, the three-time MotoGP winner so far in 2023 has seen big points lost in Argentina and America.
The factory Ducati rider crashed out of second place in Argentina, before sliding out of the American Grand Prix when leading at turn two.
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Bagnaia has thrown away several wins since 2020 from a leading position, however, the Italian has not lost confidence as a result.
"How many races did I win when I was leading? I think this question doesn’t have a correct answer," said Bagnaia when asked if pressure has played a role. "My normal win [style] is leading and pushing and then controlling the gap. This is my way to win.
"Maybe I have to start working on a different way to win. Maybe I should have let Alex [Rins] pass and then see what would happen. But my type of win is that one and it’s been like this since Moto2.
"I’ve never had a lack of concentration or lack of performance. I was not feeling the pressure of pushing too much, I was just considering that pace to be strong and was remaining on it.
"It’s more or less always the situation. That’s it. I don’t think it’s a matter of crashing because I’m leading."
Bagnaia’s mistakes in 2023 have, according to the man himself, been down to a GP23 bike that is too stable.
The pace of Bagnaia and his machine are not in question as he’s clearly been the rider to beat in dry conditions.
Yet, small changes to the bike are demands that have been made by Bagnaia as he searches for a more predictable bike, even if that means scrubbing off a couple of tenths in performance.
Bagnaia added: "We are thinking about it. We have tried to work on something that we didn’t have because in the race we crashed.
"What comes out is that the potential of our bike has to remain the same. It’s more that I have to understand the situation more.
"After I said it I spoke more with my team at home. Sincerely, it’s more difficult going two tenths slower by yourself than going two tenths slower because of your bike."
