Jorge Martín faced significant challenges in the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix, being a shadow of the performance he displayed the previous day in the Losail Sprint race. Conversely, Francesco Bagnaia, his rival in the title fight, experienced the opposite, showing clear improvement from Saturday to Sunday. Tires could be the key factor behind these fluctuations.
Asked at a press conference how he feels about the title potentially being decided by tire details that prevent a direct battle on the track, the #1 replied: ‘Unluckly we have to deal with this kind of situation and it’s something that you can’t manage. You start, preparing perfectly all the weekend, and then you start the race and you start to feel differently. So it’s something we have to improve. We know perfectly that right now this kind of problems is increasing because the pace and the limit is more in the front. So we are going every time faster, faster and faster. Last year we were like ten, 15, 20 seconds slower in some circuits like in Malaysia. A little thing on the tyres can make a big, big step’.
Drawing from his own example, Bagnaia emphasized that when facing tire issues, it’s crucial to extract the maximum from the situation: ‘What I said on Saturday: the rear tyre was not perfect for me as the one in the morning and can make me lose two or three tenths each lap and it’s nothing considering the pace and the level. But it can make a big, big difference. So we have to deal with it and in this kind of situation you have to do the maximum’.