Bagnaia: Next week I have to change strategy, seeks drive

Despite leading for the opening 14 laps of Sunday's Qatar MotoGP, Francesco Bagnaia as in danger of being left without a trophy to show for his Factory Ducati debut.

The Italian had been pushed back to fourth place, where he remained as he exited the final corner.

Firing exhaust gas into Bagnaia's face on the run to the finish was not only the Pramac Ducati of Johann Zarco, but Suzuki of world champion Joan Mir.

The GSX-R rider, who ran wide into the final corner, simply couldn't compete with the top speed of the Desmosedicis and was passed by both within sight of the chequered flag.

"I took a lot of risk in the last lap because after a race like this, I was not happy without a podium," Bagnaia said.

"So I pushed a lot chasing Johann and Joan. When I saw that Joan with the Suzuki went wide in the last corner, I tried to exit perfectly and it was impossible not to overtake him because our bike is so strong on the straight."

Zarco crossed the line 1.092s behind Yamaha race winner Maverick Vinales, with Bagnaia just 0.032s from the Frenchman and 0.093s ahead of Mir.

Reflecting on his race strategy, Bagnaia felt it may have been a mistake to lead for so long at the beginning.

"I thought the pace I was making was enough to remain constant to the finish, but maybe because of the colder condition or the wind I started struggling after 15 [of 22] laps," said the Italian.

"I tried to remain in first but Maverick had a really good pace and more traction than us. When he went in front of me I tried to follow, but he was escaped already. In the last corner the Yamaha and the Suzuki had more traction than us.

"Then I saw Johann who had the same pace as me because I was looking at the pit board and always seeing 'Zarco 0.6, 0.4'. When he overtook me [on lap 17], for three or four laps had better pace than me. But in the final part of the race it was the reverse. I was chasing him again.

"So maybe for next week I have to change a bit the strategy. Maybe I will push less in the first part of the race and follow someone. In any case, we have more data to look at for the next race. We will improve for sure and be better in the last part of the race.

"We need something to improve the drive grip because I was losing a lot of time when I was picking up the bike. Compared to new tyres, we lose a lot when the bike starts to drop. So now we have something to work on because after the test we decided to not touch the bike for this race.

"So next weekend I will try to make something different to have more traction in the exit because I think that in the brakes I’m good. I’m not losing time with used or new tyres. In the corner speed, too. So I just concentrate on the exit because there our engine will help us.

"The most important thing will be to have more traction. I think that today if I was not losing this time on the exit of corners, it was more possible to stay close to Maverick because I was stronger on the brakes and in the corner entry.

"But I’m happy because if I look at the second part of last year I struggled a lot. I crashed a lot. So to start again like this is the best way possible. I just have to say thanks to all the people who helped me this winter to improve myself.

Team-mate Jack Miller struggled even more with the tyre drop and slipped from third to ninth.