Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia believes his performance in MotoGP last year was on level with Marc Marquez’s championship-winning 2019 campaign, if sprints are excluded from the equation.
Bagnaia impressed with his blistering pace on the factory Ducati in 2024, winning 11 out of 20 grands prix and scoring five more podiums in the other nine events.
But a string of crashes and misfortune - particularly in sprint races - undid his good work, allowing a more consistent Jorge Martin to beat him to the title by 10 points aboard a Pramac-entered GP24.
While Bagnaia has always maintained that he lost the championship due to his own mistakes, he is also convinced that what he achieved last season was nothing short of remarkable.
Speaking on a podcast hosted by former racer Andrea Migno, the Italian said his 2024 campaign could be compared to Marquez’s dominant 2019 with Honda, when the sprint format was yet to be introduced.
"In my opinion, it has been an incredible season,” said the two-time MotoGP champion.
“It took us a bit to understand this bike well. It took us four races, until we got to Jerez and understood the potential. [But] everything has been incredible since then.
"If you look at Sundays, apart from the times I crashed or got thrown off, I've always finished in the top three, except in Austin, where I was fifth.
“I think it's been a season in which, if you take away the sprints, it's on par with Marc Marquez's in 2019.”
Bagnaia’s new-for-2025 team-mate Marquez clinched his sixth MotoGP title in 2019 in what is regarded as one of the best campaigns ever put together by a rider in the premier class.
The Spaniard was so dominant with the Honda RC213V that he won 12 out of the 19 grands prix and was never classified outside the top two. His only blip came at the Americas GP in Austin, where he crashed out from the lead and had to retire from the race.
Ending the season with a total of 420 points, Marquez finished 151 clear of his nearest challenger and Ducati’s then leader Andrea Dovizioso.
By comparison, Bagnaia scored one fewer victory over a slightly longer 20-round season and ended the year with 14 podiums compared to Marquez’s 18.
He scored 498 points over the course of the season, including 116 in half-distance races. If only points from Sunday races were counted, Bagnaia would have outscored Martin by 24 points.
