Bagnaia compares 2024 MotoGP title loss with Marquez’s 2015 defeat

Francesco Bagnaiasays he can take inspiration from the way Marc Marquez bounced back from his 2015 title loss in MotoGP to become a six-time premier class champion.

Marquez made a storming MotoGP debut with Honda in 2013 to win two titles on the trot, but couldn’t make it a hat-trick of championships in 2015 after giving away too many points in crashes and retirements.

That setback served to make the Spaniard mentally stronger and he took advantage of his increased composure to add another four titles to his tally, breaking several long-standing records in MotoGP along the way.

Factory Ducati rider Bagnaia faces a similar situation after 2024, with his streak of two titles having been broken by Pramac’s Jorge Martin this season.

And much like his 2025 team-mate Marquez, he thinks he will be a much more potent force in MotoGP after his title defeat when the new season gets under way in March.

“I’m a very young rider and I think I still have eight-10 years in front of me,” he said. “I will try to do my maximum. I will try to continue to be that fast [and] that strong. The most important thing is to increase [the number] in terms of championship titles and I will try [my best].

“I’m not considering [2024] like losing properly because I learned from my mistakes. We know that we lost the championship for the mistakes and this is something that I will improve.

“Also, if we look at the start of Marc’s [career], he won two titles in a row. Then he lost 2015 and then he won four in a row, so you never know. I will try to do my maximum and to achieve the maximum goal again.”

Just days after Bagnaia lost the 2024 championship despite picking his 11th grand prix win of the year in Barcelona, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen wrapped up the 2024 Formula 1 title.

Bagnaia, who also has a Moto2 world title from 2018 on his CV, admitted it was hard to see Verstappen lift the F1 crown in Las Vegas when he was still coming to terms with his own defeat.

“In these weeks the most difficult moment was when I saw Verstappen win the title, because it was his fourth.

“There it was a bit of a difficult moment, but there is nothing to complain about [Ducati’s season in MotoGP], because it was a fantastic day, which we must be proud of.”

He added: “I simply thought about the fact that I too could have been a four-time world champion and it brought me back to the defeat a bit.

“But I’m living it a bit like an opportunity: I know we lost, but I know why we lost it and that already makes the difference.”

Additional reporting by Matteo Nugnes