By winning the Sprint on the Barcelona circuit, Francesco Bagnaia postponed the award of the world crown to the last Grand Prix of the 2024 season.
As in 2022 and 2023, the World Drivers' Championship will be decided during the last race of the season. Jorge Martín will start this last Sunday of the 2024 season with 19 points ahead of Francesco Bagnaia.
For the Spanish rider, the stakes are high since he can win the world title in the premier category for the first time, on the day of his last race with Pramac and Ducati before joining Aprilia. For his part, Francesco Bagnaia can win his third consecutive title.
The challenges of the last Grand Prix of the season
If Francesco Bagnaia wins the Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix, Jorge Martín must finish no further than ninth place to be titled. In the event that Francesco Bagnaia finishes second, Jorge Martín must be at the furthest away in 14th position. If Francesco Bagnaia finishes in third position, Jorge Martín is assured of winning the title and becoming the first independent rider in the MotoGP era to become World Champion.
Jorge Martín missed out on a place in the top nine three times at Grands Prix in the 2024 season. He crashed while leading at the Spanish Grand Prix, run at the Jerez circuit, and at the German race at Sachsenring (Francesco Bagnaia won both races). Finally, he finished in 15th place after a pit stop at Misano in a failed gamble by choosing to switch to wet tires (FrancescoBagnaia finished second).
