Francesco Bagnaia had a decent start to the new season, as he finished third in both the sprint and the race. However, even though it sounded like a solid result, Bagnaia was not happy with it.

"I’m not here to finish third," Bagnaia said after the race in Thailand.

Bagnaia qualified third behind Alex and Marc Márquez and ended up finishing behind them in both races. This made history, as the Márquez brothers became the first siblings to lead the MotoGP championship standings.

Bagnaia admitted that third place was the best he could achieve but made it very clear that his goal is always to fight for victory. "I learned last year that it's important to take the maximum and make smart choices about risks. Today, I was just trying to manage the situation."

He explained that every time he tried to close the gap on the Márquez brothers, he couldn't because of issues with the front of his bike. Despite his efforts, third place was the best he could have done. "I will never be happy to finish third, but this time, it was the best I could do. Next time, I’ll aim for second, and after that, first."

Bagnaia revealed that he was behind schedule during the Thai Grand Prix because of problems he had in pre-season testing. "On Friday, we had to complete the work we missed in testing, so I had to make setup adjustments on Saturday, which was too late."

His tire choice also played a role in his struggles. On Saturday, he used a hard front tire, which turned out to be the wrong decision. On Sunday, he switched to a soft tire, which worked better for him, but he still didn’t have the perfect setup.

Bagnaia also commented on how Marc Márquez seemed to play with his brother Alex. Marc dropped back into second place and stayed behind Alex for most of the race. Then, on the penultimate lap, he overtook his brother and quickly pulled ahead.

"Marc was much faster when he decided to push," Bagnaia said. "I need to improve, learn from what he’s doing better, and close the gap. The next two races in Argentina and the US will suit them well, but I need to be closer."

Bagnaia also knows specific track sections where he lost time in comparison to his teammate. "I was strong in hard braking zones, like turns one, two, and twelve, but I lost time to Marc in turns four, five, and six. I also struggled against Alex in turns seven and eight."

Ducati team boss, Davide Tardozzi, confirmed this and further explained that Bagnaia couldn't match the Márquez brothers' pace. "He was trying too hard to make up for it with braking, but that strategy didn’t work," Tardozzi said.

Bagnaia knew he had work to do. "I need to start working on my bike setup and close the gap to them," he said. With more preparation, Bagnaia hopes he will return to the top very soon.