Photo: Ducati Lenovo Team
Francesco Bagnaia opens up about heartbreaking 2024 title loss
Eliška Ryšánková
News.GP journalist who’s all about the thrilling worlds of MotoGP and Formula 1.
Francesco Bagnaia, the two-time MotoGP world champion, has spoken candidly about the emotional toll of losing the 2024 championship — despite winning more races than any other rider. In a new documentary, Bagnaia reflects on a season filled with triumph and heartbreak, and how he's using that pain to fuel his comeback in 2025.
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Francesco Bagnaia, the two-time MotoGP world champion, has recently opened up about the pain he felt when he lost the 2024 championship. He described it as a loss that still haunts him — even though he had more race wins than anyone else that season.
Bagnaia was in a title fight with Jorge Martin, who rode for the Pramac Ducati team. Bagnaia won 11 out of the 20 races, joining legends like Valentino Rossi in achieving such a milestone. But despite his dominance on the track, he lost the title by just 10 points to Martin, who only won three races the entire season.
So how did he lose to Martin? The eight races where Bagnaia didn’t score any points ended up costing him the championship — and that’s something he’s still trying to understand.
In the first episode of the new YouTube documentary series GOFREE, Bagnaia spoke honestly about how difficult it was to accept the outcome.
“The end of last season is still in my head,” he admits. “I think it will take me years to digest that.”
He revealed that he spent the whole winter reflecting on what went wrong.
“I tried to understand why I didn’t win the title, even though I had more wins than anyone else. It was tough to accept, but also a big learning moment. When you lose like that, you either fall apart or you grow.”
Unfortunately, Bagnaia hasn’t had a great start to the 2025 season either. So far, he’s been outpaced by his teammate Marc Marquez in every race.
He finished third in Thailand and just missed the podium in Argentina — his first finish outside the top three (in a completed race) since the 2023 Grand Prix in Austin.
Bagnaia has also struggled to get comfortable with the new bike, especially under braking. Still, he made progress last weekend at the Americas GP. And in a twist of fate, Bagnaia won the race at COTA after Marquez, who was leading, crashed out — giving him his first win of the season.
Now, heading into the Qatar Grand Prix, Bagnaia is just 12 points behind the championship leader, Alex Marquez, who holds a narrow one-point lead over his brother, Marc.
