Francesco Bagnaia’s struggles at Ducati in 2025 have prompted shock rumours about his future with the team.
With just one win this season, Bagnaia has been dominated by his teammate Marc Marquez. The six-time MotoGP champion has nine wins in 2025, including Sprint races, and leads the championship by 24 points over brother Alex.
Bagnaia is third in the standings, 72 points adrift from Marquez. The Italian is struggling to adapt to the GP25, with the satellite GP24 riders constantly outperforming him.
Bagnaia is pleading for help from Ducati to improve his feeling on the new Desmosedici. The 28-year-old has been complaining about the front end of the bike all season.
Ducati are ‘running out of patience’ with Bagnaia as he continues to tell the team the GP25 does not work. It has led to stunning rumours that the two-time champion is being linked with Yamaha for 2026.
Neil Hodgson tells Francesco Bagnaia to join Yamaha for 2026 to beat Marc Marquez
Yamaha view Bagnaia as their ‘forbidden dream’ for 2026 as they assess their options for next season. Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins have two-year deals, but with the latter’s struggles, the manufacturer would surely not pass on the opportunity to sign the Ducati rider.
Carlo Pernat thinks Yamaha’s links to Bagnaia are ‘absurd’, but Neil Hodgson sees this as an opportunity he should take. Speaking via TNT Sports 2 (06/06, 10:21 am), he says there is ‘no point continuing’ at Ducati while he is Marquez’s teammate.
“It’s a no-brainer what you do. I answer your question, you go to Yamaha, no point continuing. What are you going to do?
“Obviously he’s going to ride with Marc next year and it’s going to be more of the same on the 2026 bike, which won’t work for Pecco, it’ll work for Marc.
“So he’s going to have a miserable season, so what’s he going to do? So he’s going to speak to his management and say: ‘Get me the best factory opportunity. I want to enjoy my racing again and just maybe, like last year, I’ll be on a better bike than Marc.
“Because Yamaha might make a step, this’ll be for ’27, and just maybe, I can beat him. But if I’m riding the same bike as him, I’m not going to be able to beat him’. So that’s the reality of it.”
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Francesco Bagnaia could also be an option for Aprilia in 2026
Pedro Acosta ‘highly doubts’ Ducati will drop Bagnaia amid his struggles in 2025. However, the recent links to Yamaha have put his future with the Bologna-based team in doubt.
It is not just Yamaha who are keeping tabs on the Italian. Aprilia could sign Bagnaia to replace Jorge Martin, as the 2024 champion seeks an early exit.
Of course, Bagnaia will not want to give up on Ducati and will be working extensively behind the scenes to find improvements on the GP25.
However, with Marquez looking unstoppable at Ducati, Bagnaia may have to consider his future if he wants to beat the Spaniard.
