Francesco Bagnaia had to retire from the Malaysian Grand Prix while fighting for a podium due to a rear tyre puncture.

After taking victory on Saturday in the MotoGP Sprint Race, Francesco Bagnaia had to retire from the Grand Prix on Sunday, and it has been confirmed by Michelin that he suffered a puncture.

The Italian rider was running in third place when he pulled off the circuit and coasted his way back to the pits, where he retired from the 20 Lap Grand Prix.

It was later discovered that Bagnaia had a hole in his rear tyre, which had caused the handling of his Ducati to drastically change.

"Pecco [Bagnaia] around Lap 15 or 16 came into the box," Michelin Motorsports Two-Wheel Manager, Piero Taramasso, told MotoGP.com.

"He was saying that around Lap 13, he found the handling of the bike a little bit strange, and different as the rear was moving. He saw the light for low rear pressure, then he came in and we looked at the tyre.

"We saw in the rear tyre that there was a puncture, a hole in the centre of the tyre. We measured the air pressure when we came in, and it was 0.7 bar, so for two laps, he was losing air.

"This is what happened, it is very unusual, it does not happen very often. But probably a piece of carbon was on the track, it made the hole, and he came in. So, it is a pity as he was doing well, and the rear soft tyre still had rubber on."

Michelin has theorised that Bagnaia most likely ran over a piece of carbon fibre that was on the track, which punctured the rear tyre on his Ducati GP25.

"It was probably a piece of carbon on the track," he explained.

"This was probably from when bikes crashed. Carbon is very strong and sharp. The tyre has a very strong structure, but if it [carbon] is sharp, there is nothing you can do."