Francesco Bagnaia called the 2024 MotoGP season a "championship of mistakes" after grabbing a sprint win at the Indonesian Grand Prix, following Jorge Martin’s early crash.

Bagnaia has already suffered seven DNFs this season, the most recent happening last week at the Emilia Romagna GP. That result left him 24 points behind Martin going into the Mandalika sprint. But with Martin crashing out of the lead on the first lap, Bagnaia seized the opportunity, winning the race and cutting his deficit down to just 12 points.

Despite the sprint win, Bagnaia was cautious about reading too much into it, citing how unpredictable the 2024 championship has been. He even shared a theory about the season's unpredictability:

“I won’t say much until tomorrow afternoon because this season feels like a championship of mistakes,” Bagnaia said during a media session.

He thinks the tires might be part of the issue. “The rear tires have improved massively, especially with braking, but that’s led to us pushing much harder into corners, which is putting more strain on the front. Michelin has done an amazing job improving the tires this year, and we’ve seen our pace improve across all the tracks. But when you’re riding at that edge, it’s so easy to crash. It’s great for the championship, but we have to stay focused.”

Martin, however, wasn’t buying that explanation and suggested his crash had more to do with the asphalt at Turn 16.

Bagnaia’s win came after a tough Friday at Mandalika, where he struggled to keep up with Martin and Enea Bastianini. He felt more optimistic heading into Saturday, having made progress with his bike setup, and he believes he could’ve qualified higher than fourth if it weren’t for the yellow flags at the end of Q2.

“We knew it wasn’t the best weekend until the race, but we made improvements session by session,” Bagnaia said. “This morning, we made a step forward, and in qualifying, I understood something that I didn’t fully capitalize on because of the yellow flags.”

Bagnaia also recalled a key moment during the race when he saw Martin entering a corner. “When I saw Jorge go in, I thought, ‘If he holds that line, I’m gaining four seconds,’ because he was so much faster and leaning heavily into it.”

He acknowledged the challenging conditions, noting that with the track temperature hitting 63 degrees, it was one of the toughest weekends so far. “The conditions today were extreme, maybe the worst we’ve faced all year. It wasn’t easy to perform, but when I saw the crash, I knew I had to be faster in the other three sectors and just manage the last one carefully. It worked for today, but I know it won’t work tomorrow. Still, I’m happy with how things turned out today.”