Francesco Bagnaia was ‘perplexed’ by what he saw Marc Marquez do at the Thailand Grand Prix

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Ducati dominated the 2025 season opener in Thailand. Marc Marquez commanded the field all weekend as he claimed his first win in red.

Teammate Francesco Bagnaia offered very little in the battle with the Spaniard. Marquez claimed pole position, the Sprint win and the Thailand Grand Prix win to grab maximum points.

It was not a smooth weekend at all for Bagnaia as he missed out on Q2 after being impeded by Franco Morbidelli in practice. Bagnaia also fumed at race officials as he would have made the cut if not for an unnecessary yellow flag deleting his time.

The two-time MotoGP champion fought back to finish third in the Sprint and repeated that finish in the main race. But he was over two seconds behind Marquez as he offered little to no challenge to his teammate or brother Alex Marquez in second.

Bagnaia looked beaten after the race as he was dealt a ‘knockout blow’ by Marquez. The former is looking to reclaim the MotoGP title after losing to Jorge Martin last year, while the latter can equal Valentino Rossi with seven premier class championships.

After Thailand, Marquez clearly has the advantage at Ducati as Bagnaia lulls over how the Spaniard got the upper hand.

Francesco Bagnaia was ‘perplexed’ by Marc Marquez’s strategy at the Thailand Grand Prix

The only threat to Marquez’s win in Thailand was a tyre pressure issue in the early stages. The Ducati rider was overtaken by Gresini’s Alex Marquez before getting back by for the lead late on.

Speaking via Motorsport.com Italia, Riccardo Ceccarelli claimed Bagnaia was ‘perplexed’ by this strategy. Marquez could have widened the gap even further to his teammate.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number

“I heard the comments of this strategy of Marc Marquez of doing a certain number of laps behind his brother as if to let him pass and turn behind for a question of tyre temperature, for a question of pressure,” he said.

“However, what impressed me was the moment he overtook. It seemed like he had room to make even more of a gap and I think this is the aspect that left Bagnaia a little perplexed.

“Because in the end if we look at the stopwatch, it arrived at a contained gap. However, it seemed like it was a gap that could have been wider.

“It is clear that at this moment for Bagnaia, Marquez is a bit of a litmus test of his value because he has won world championships.

“But the people who I am convinced that in front of a world champion, as I always say first of all, we applaud, we take our hats off and therefore what Bagnaia has done in these years in my opinion, it always remains a very high level of work.

“However, it is clear that today you are comparing yourself with a rider who has made history.”

Why Francesco Bagnaia tried to leave Thailand Grand Prix press conference early

Naturally, Bagnaia is aiming to return to the top of MotoGP in 2025 with defending champion Jorge Martin out injured. However, he now has a strong opponent to bring down – and he is currently lagging behind.

The 28-year-old’s body language after Buriram spoke volumes as he suffered a crushing defeat to Marquez. Bagnaia even tried leaving the press conference early as he was tired of the attention the Marquez brothers were receiving.

Bagnaia admitted he was ‘missing’ another level against Marquez in Thailand. The Italian must find another gear in Argentina and Austin – two more strong tracks for the Spaniard.

Pol Espargaro has warned Bagnaia to take risks in practice against Marquez. The ‘pressure will start to boil’ if he cannot bridge the gap to the 32-year-old.