Perhaps the only positive thing about this day is that Pecco Bagnaia manages to smile. In the second free practice session and in qualifying he seemed very nervous, both on the track and in the garage. An attitude that is understandable when times do not arrive, but not usual for the Piedmontese who had arrived in Argentina with the aim of turning his season around and who will start tomorrow from 13th box.
“Perhaps for the turning point it is better to wait for the next Grand Prix – jokes – I don’t have much to say, except that I’ve been slow. I wasn’t able to be fast on the new tire and it’s not the first time this has happened to me, so we know how to react. Last season’s Sachsenring GP had been an important lesson in this regard. I also struggle with the troughs, as I had in Austin a year ago so we know how to do it for that too”.
Couldn’t it have been done better today?
“With used tires I was confident, I was able to keep a good pace, then I put on the new ones and I was slow, I improved my time by just 3 tenths. This and the depressions were my main problems “.
You also got angry with the drivers following you, you braked on the straight at one point.
“I have to apologize, when you are nervous you make mistakes and that’s what happened to me. I went to talk to the Stewards and as soon as I entered their office I apologized, they understood my situation and told me that in certain situations I have to be smarter and pay more attention. I got nervous because I saw riders complaining about those waiting on the track doing exactly the same thing. That said, it was my mistake “.
It’s not often that you see yourself losing your temper like that.
“I’ve had other difficult days, the difference is that I didn’t have cameras in the garage (ride) When I get nervous I behave like this, I’m sorry to have made this impression on you, but we are all human. Last year I had the worst moments, let’s say that today everything was normal (ride). More than angry I was disappointed for having gone slowly “.
Was it a limitation to have had only two practice sessions and then qualifying all in one day?
“The situation was the same for everyone, so it means that others did better and adapted faster. I always take a little longer to settle down, I need a lot on Fridays, here we had to do a more compressed job. I think I was able to prepare for the race but not for qualifying”.
At the exit of Turn 11 your Desmosedici looked like a runaway horse.
“There are a lot of dips at that point and with my setting it’s a sticking point. The same thing happened to me in Austin last year and we made a change that helped me, we’ll try it tomorrow “.
What do you expect from your race?
“It won’t be easy, especially since Aleix Espargarò is very strong, as is Vinales. I will be able to do well, but I need to improve further”.
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