Francesco Bagnaia won 11 out of the 20 MotoGP Grands Prix in 2024. Anyone unfamiliar with the season and hearing this statistic might assume the rider was crowned champion. However, that was not the case, as he finished in third place.
The expectations surrounding the Ducati Italian were high. With one of the best bikes on the grid and two consecutive titles under his belt, he was seen as the favorite for 2024. However, it was also known that he could face strong opposition – starting with Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati), who fought him to the end last year.
And, once again, the title was decided between the two. This time, Martín came out on top by just ten points. Yet, the year started better for Bagnaia, who won the Qatar GP, leaving Losail at the top of the championship standings.
However, the first setback came immediately in the Portuguese GP: a retirement following an incident with Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) in the final laps while battling to hold on to fourth place. In retrospect, he lost at least 11 points that could have made all the difference in the end.
Almost always in pursuit
After the round in Portimão, Pecco was in fourth place, dropping to fifth after the Americas GP. In Spain, he climbed to second, reclaiming the top spot in the championship only in August at the Austrian GP… but not for long. Immediately after, he suffered his second DNF of the year in a main race at the Aragón GP due to an incident with Álex Márquez (Gresini/Ducati).
From then on, Bagnaia was always chasing Martín – sometimes closer, sometimes further behind, but always keeping the fight alive – even after another retirement at the Emilia Romagna GP. The Italian was very strong in races during the final stages of the season, winning four of the last six Grands Prix.
However, inconsistency in Sprint races proved costly for Bagnaia: despite seven victories, the same as Martín, he failed to score points four times and only managed ten podiums on Saturdays. The balance clearly tilted in favor of the Spaniard in Sprint races (Bagnaia scored 128 points compared to his rival’s 171, while in the main races, he scored 370 points to Martín’s 337).
Strength
On Sundays, almost no one could stop Francesco Bagnaia. He achieved 11 victories out of a possible 20 and secured five other podiums, amassing 370 out of 500 available points.
Weakness
Sprint races were Bagnaia’s Achilles’ heel last year, and while he improved this season with seven victories out of 20, it still wasn’t enough. Many of his errors or DNFs occurred on Saturdays, where he scored 128 out of 240 possible points.
Best moment
We chose not a specific race but the final phase of the season. Bagnaia held onto the title fight with both hands after a disappointing DNF at Misano during the Emilia Romagna GP, claiming four wins and two third places.
Worst moment
It’s difficult to pinpoint a worst moment in an almost-perfect season. We consider the Portuguese GP retirement as the defining low point: it was an unnecessary and unforced error where Bagnaia could have been less aggressive in his battle with Marc Márquez. He fought for just two extra points (13 for fourth place versus 11 for fifth place) but ended up with none. A top-five finish in that race would have made all the difference had the rest of the season unfolded as it did.