The Ducati rider has his first match point in the 2022 championship battle this weekend at Sepang, as he leads by 14 points and only needs to outscore Fabio Quartararo by 11 to win the title.
But Bagnaia risks having to go through Q1 in qualifying on Saturday after a sudden heavy downpour on Friday afternoon led to FP2 being run in wet conditions.
Bagnaia ended Friday 11th overall having been one of several riders – including Quartararo, who was seventh – not to fit fresh slick tyres at the end of the dry FP1.
The Italian says this was solely his decision as he wanted to work with the medium rubber as part of his race preparations, but admits missing out on a top 10 place on Friday with forecasts looking uncertain for Saturday has upset him.
"The decision not to put the new tyre on at the end of the first test was mine,” Bagnaia said.
“I didn't expect the rain in the afternoon, but, furthermore, it was important to give the medium tyre a spin.
“Of course, it pisses me off not being in the top 10. Especially since it was my fault, a mistake I made.
“Despite this, I am happy. In the morning I am one of the few who improved with the used rubber. And in the afternoon, with water [on track], I did not feel quite well but I finished well.”
Quartararo concedes qualifying on Saturday will be “the most important of the season” as his continued title charge will hinge on a strong grid slot.
But he says he is not putting so much significance on it as he continues to approach the final races with a “nothing to lose” mentality.
“Yes, but I’m not thinking like that,” he said when asked if qualifying in Malaysia was the most important of the year.
“I’m thinking like ‘yes, I know it’s the most important qualifying of the year’, but in the end from Qatar to now I’ve given always everything I have to qualify well.
“So, I think I need to stay with the same spirit.
“I have this mentality of having nothing to lose, but already in Australia, Thailand I was with this mentality in qualifying.
“So, it will not make a big change but I will push myself to the limit.”
Quartararo showed encouraging signs of improved wet pace in the drying FP2, with the Yamaha rider electing against a slick tyre run at the end like RNF Racing counterpart Cal Crutchlow – who topped the session – to focus more on his pace on rain tyres in greasy conditions.
“First run was difficult,” he said of his FP2 session. “So, I stopped and it was spinning like hell.
“And then the second run I was straight away a lot faster. At the end I wanted to stop and put the slicks on, but there were six or seven minutes remaining and I didn’t want to stop to make only one or two laps.
“So, I decided to [keep going], also because when there are some [damp] patches but it’s quite dry we always struggle with the rain tyres. So I wanted to follow and it was quite ok in the end.”
