Bagnaia refuses to give up on championship, but Quartararo is ‘the strongest’

Francesco Bagnaia’s attempt at a maiden MotoGP win quickly evaporated at Silverstone due to tyre problems as he slipped from second to 14th.

The Ducati rider spent the first four laps very much in contention, however, once team-mate Jack Miller and both Suzuki’s of Joan Mir and Alex Rins got past the Italian, it began a run of laps where Bagnaia was over two seconds slower than the type of pace he showed throughout the weekend. 

"It’s quite clear that something did not work today because my pace during the whole weekend was so strong," said Bagnaia.  

"I made many runs with used tyres going three seconds faster than this. So I don’t know what really happened. 

"We have to check on the data and speak with Michelin. I think with a championship like this we are at the top of the motorcycle and I think all the parts of our motorcycle have to be at the top." 

Bagnaia’s 14th place finish is a result that sees him lose a further 23 points to Fabio Quartararo following the Yamaha rider’s fifth win of 2021. 

And while Bagnaia is refusing to give up on the championship with six rounds left, a huge 70 point gap has been opened between the pair. 

Bagnaia added: "What we can say is that Fabio, at this moment, has not won it but has a good gap from us. 

"We do not lose our ambition to be in front of him but he’s the strongest at the moment and doesn’t have problems in any situation. 

"We have to always think positive and stay near the front but it’s difficult like this because you can do your best during the weekend but something happens during the race and your best is gone."