Francesco Bagnaia’s disastrous 2025 MotoGP continues to shock fans and those across the paddock.
The 28-year-old was expected to be a sure-fire candidate for the MotoGP title, but hasn’t been able to get anywhere near the levels of teammate Marc Marquez.
Bagnaia just cannot seem to gel with this year’s GP25 machine, and has even shown less pace than those on the GP24s at Gresini and VR46 at times.
Without a miraculous upgrade from Ducati, it already looks like he may be out of the championship race after just six rounds. The pace just isn’t there.
MotoGP fans think Luigi Dall’Igna has lost faith in Bagnaia after he crashed during a sprint race in France, following a slow qualifying where he only managed sixth. He just appears lost now.
Marquez thinks Bagnaia’s problem is faster races, and that he is struggling to cope with having to ramp up the pace on a Sunday.
Francesco Bagnaia fails to see Ducati ‘improvements’ with the GP25
A worrying Bagnaia rumour at the French Grand Prix indicated that his teammate may have been given a new chassis.
It could widen the gap between the two, and on the evidence of the weekend so far, it doesn’t look to have done any harm to the six-time champion.
According to the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, Bagnaia is lacking feeling at the front of his bike, and cannot understand where the GP25 is an improvement over the GP24.
“To me, instead, it doesn’t seem like an improvement, because I don’t have feeling with the front,” he said.
“Then we must not forget that Marc can also drive a tractor and be competitive, but I need to have more confidence with the front and right now I’m struggling.
“If I look at the data of Alex Marquez and Aldeguer instead, they [do] with the GP24, what I could do last year.”
What can Francesco Bagnaia do to close the gap to Marc Marquez?
Various setups and riding styles will have been tried over the last few months, and without much success, few solutions remain.
There are two clear options remaining. Revert to the GP24 (which would be quite dramatic), or try and develop through the current pain on the GP25.
There’s a risk that he never adjusts to the current bike. Bagnaia faces his ‘worst nightmare’ because he’s finishing races behind satellite Ducati riders and a Yamaha recently.
There’s a threat sooner or later, that Alex Marquez could be tipped for his seat in the future. Just imagine what he could be doing on a factory machine currently.
