Ducati MotoGP rider Pecco Bagnaia says an "incorrect strategy" was to blame for his Friday disappointment at the Czech Grand Prix at Brno.
Fresh off a torrid time in the rain at the Sachsenring, Bagnaia looked much more competitive through the wet track action on the opening day at Brno (thanks to the extra grip offered up by the resurfaced track) and - though team-mate Marc Marquez was far ahead - appeared to have enough in hand to at least secure a top-10 spot and a guaranteed Q2 place with it.
But he found himself needing to push in the final minutes to salvage the result as rivals had improved, and was left floundering - like several others - on the drying track, with the temperature of the wet rear tyre out spiralling out of control on a surface that wasn't suiting it.
"I'm not there [in the top 10] because we completely missed the strategy," he lamented.
"I was in the box when the others were improving. Every time I was entering [pitlane] I was in the top 10.
"In the last moment, the only possibility to go [back] in the top 10 was to go with the medium rear [wet tyre]. But we decided to go with the soft. It was the incorrect strategy."
Though it's not an exact science, the wet medium rear should in theory be a better fit for a rapidly drying track because it keeps temperatures more in control and minimises wheelspin.
Bagnaia then elaborated further on how the decision - and the timing - came to be.
"Today we decided to try a thing [on the bike] that was too long to change, and we missed the moment where everybody did their fastest laptime.
"And then in the last part I was seeing that it was better to go with the medium, but the technicians were too convinced to go with the soft. So I decided to go with their strategy. But it was incorrect."
Though laps in Q1 can be advantageous tomorrow given the limited dry running, and Bagnaia semi-sardonically acknowledged this was "a positive way to see the situation", he was clearly irritated by the extra hurdle to his weekend.
"Honestly, it's already a complicated season, where my feeling [with the bike] is not the best. If we complicate the situation even more, it can be a shame - like it was today.
"I think the potential to be in the top 10 was clear and it was there. And we just did all the incorrect decisions."
