Valentino Rossi says he is “a little bit angry” with protege Francesco Bagnaia, who he believes could and should have kept the MotoGP title race going into Portimao.
Bagnaia crashed from the lead in the closing stages of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, automatically making Fabio Quartararo – who had been charging from 15th on the grid and would’ve had no chance of celebrating the title at Misano had Bagnaia stayed on the bike – the 2021 champion.
Both Bagnaia and Ducati factory team-mate Jack Miller fell at Turn 15 left-hander, the penultimate corner of the circuit.
They were the only two riders in the field to have opted for the hard front compound in the race.
Rossi said he was “very happy” for Quartararo and his employer Yamaha, and also credited Bagnaia with a “fantastic season”, saying that he anticipated Bagnaia and fellow VR46 Academy proteges Franco Morbidelli and Luca Marini to be “very strong next year”.
However, he also said of his mentee: “I’m a little bit angry with him [Bagnaia] today because I think that if he put the medium front he can win, because he was the faster [on the grid], but this is what I think.
“He had a great chance to keep open the championship, it’s anyway difficult, but to bring [the title race] to Portugal is important, but anyway it’s like this.
GAME OVER!!! ❌@PeccoBagnaia CRASHES OUT OF THE LEAD! 😱#MatchPoint | #EmiliaRomagnaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/cJn2vVwkec
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 24, 2021
“For me the hard front was too dangerous today. I tried to say it to Pecco, but at the end they put [it on], and the hard front is like this – unfortunately, in the last part of the race, the temperature went down, had less sun, less temperature, and the hard front is like this – if the temperature goes below, the tyre gives up, you crash, you can’t do nothing. It’s a great shame.”
Both Miller and Bagnaia theorised that their respective crashes at Turn 15 happened because they didn’t put enough heat into the left side of the tyre at Turn 8, this being a left-hander separated from Turn 15 by six right-handers.
But while Miller admitted the tyre gamble had backfired, Bagnaia still felt it has been the right choice, as he didn’t feel comfortable with the medium front and wasn’t sure the soft front would go the distance.
Rossi said he used the medium front and found it to be “good”.
He then jokingly referenced the Aragon race earlier this year, in which Rossi implored Bagnaia pre-race to stick with a conventional tyre choice – a hard front in that case – and Bagnaia heeded the advice, going on to win the race.
“I tried to make the same like in Aragon,” joked Rossi of this Sunday’s race. “I tried to hypnotise Pecco, to say ‘put medium, medium, medium’, but this time it didn’t work.”
