Francesco Bagnaia heads for his home round, the Italian Grand Prix, with the Ducati rider battling his biggest deficit in the championship since his rookie season in 2019.
The 28-year-old will make his way to Mugello sitting a whopping 93 points behind his Ducati teammate, Marc Marquez, in the standings. Bagnaia has never been as far behind first place through eight rounds since the first year the Turin native competed in MotoGP with Pramac.
Marquez also won his sixth and most recent riders’ title during the 2019 MotoGP season. He held a 149-point margin over Bagnaia after the first eight rounds that term, and the 32-year-old will now hope to edge into a triple-digit lead against the Italian at Mugello this weekend.
Alex Criville thinks Ducati ‘couldn’t even look at’ Francesco Bagnaia after his poor start to the season
Ducati test rider Michele Pirro refuses to rule Bagnaia out of the 2025 MotoGP title race, as the 2022 and 2023 champion showed he can find his confidence on the GP25 at the Aragon Grand Prix. But he still finished behind his teammate, after Marquez did the Aragon double.
Pirro says the Italian turned a corner at MotorLand as Bagnaia changed his front brake discs at Aragon and began to feel comfortable with the front of his Ducati again. Alex Criville even thinks the 28-year-old’s result at Aragon helped to improve how Ducati are treating Bagnaia.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
| YEAR | BAGNAIA’S POINTS AFTER EIGHT ROUNDS | DEFICIT TO THE LEADER AFTER EIGHT ROUNDS | EVENTUAL CHAMPION’S POINTS | BAGNAIA’S FINAL DEFICIT |
| 2019 | 11 (P19) | -149 to Marc Marquez | 420 (M Marquez) | -366 |
| 2020 | 39 (P13) | -69 to Fabio Quartararo | 171 (J Mir) | -124 |
| 2021 | 99 (P4) | -32 to Fabio Quartararo | 278 (F Quartararo) | -26 |
| 2022 | 81 (P4) | -41 to Fabio Quartararo | 265 (F Bagnaia) | +17 |
| 2023 | 194 (P1) | +35 over Jorge Martin | 467 (F Bagnaia) | +39 |
| 2024 | 190 (P2) | -10 to Jorge Martin | 508 (J Martin) | -10 |
| 2025 | 140 (P3) | -93 to Marc Marquez | TBC | TBC |
Criville believes Ducati and, especially, team manager Davide Tardozzi could barely look over at Bagnaia and his crew during the opening rounds of the season. Yet his display two weeks ago at Aragon immediately started to get the Bologna Bullets to rally around Bagnaia again.
Criville told Duralavita: “Before the MotorLand race, it was a disaster. Everyone was worried in the team, grimaces, Tardozzi next to Marquez. They couldn’t even look at Pecco’s team.
“However, after the race, wow, total light! And with Pecco loose, attacking, already a bit like the Pecco we know, you’re really worth what you achieved in the last result.
“The last result was very good. Mugello is coming up, let’s hope he’s at the front. For the sake of the spectacle, we’re interested. There are a lot of Pecco fans.”
Francesco Bagnaia did the Italian Sprint and Grand Prix double at Mugello in 2023 and 2024
Tardozzi refuses to rule Bagnaia out of the MotoGP title race after his performance last time out at the Aragon GP. The Ducati boss was quick to recall after the race how Bagnaia won his first riders’ title in 2022 after overturning the biggest deficit in MotoGP history at 91 points.
Bagnaia must now make history again as Marquez opened a 93-point lead over the Italian by winning the Sprint and the Grand Prix at Aragon. But there would be no better place for the Turin native to stamp his case for the 2025 crown than by winning at Mugello this weekend.
Ducati saw Bagnaia win the Sprint and the Grand Prix at Mugello last year and back in 2023, when he also scored pole. The Italian has only won one race so far this season ahead of his home round, which was when Bagnaia capitalised on Marquez crashing in the Americas GP.
