Unlike several other riders, Francesco Bagnaia prefers to work for the race during practice rather than for the qualifying. This approach leaves him in a good position for the race but not as much for qualifying and timed practice. He has failed to qualify directly for the Q2 on two consecutive occasions.
The defending champion from Ducati admitted he is unsure if he should keep this approach: ‘I don’t know if it is good to continue like this, but my strategy during the session is quite different compared with all the others. And it helps me to be very prepared for the race every time, but not prepared to be in the first positions when it counts. This weekend, for example, when we put the soft tyre I didn’t try this amount of the grip. The difference between medium and soft on the left side of the tyre was huge and I was in trouble with it. We finished the work Saturday morning, luckly, and we were prepared for the race’.
In the following GPs, Bagnaia might consider a change, as he said: ‘Maybe we have to start thinking in another way and be more prepared also for the time attack. Because now we move on to circuits where it is very important to be fast’.