Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is struggling to keep up with Ducati teammate Marc Marquez so far in the 2025 MotoGP season.
Since arriving from satellite team Gresini, Marquez has stamped his authority at the Bologna-based team. The Spaniard dominated the season-opener in Thailand and is the firm favourite to win the Argentina Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Bagnaia has offered little challenge on the other side of the garage. He finished behind his teammate and Alex Marquez in Buriram in third after missing out on Q2 in practice.
The Italian needs to find an answer fast but faces a tough task with Termas de Rio Hondo being a strong track for Marquez. Pol Esgargaro has warned Bagnaia will be under pressure if he cannot display his pace sooner during a race weekend.
Davide Tardozzi criticised Bagnaia for being too much of a gentleman with Jorge Martin last year. The two-time MotoGP champion lost his crown to the Spaniard by 10 points in 2024.
Bagnaia refuted Tardozzi’s criticism by stating he would not change his approach with Marquez. However, it is clear Ducati are demanding more from the Italian – and it is making the team manager ‘sweat’.
Davide Tardozzi is starting to ‘sweat’ more as Ducati try to motivate Francesco Bagnaia to start weekends stronger
Bagnaia has looked to take Esgargaro’s advice on board in Argentina as he set out to be on the pace straight away. But even then, the 28-year-old was still significantly behind his teammate.
While Marquez beat his lap record around Termas, Bagnaia narrowly scraped through to Q2 in 10th. The latter crashed at turn two in the closing stages but had done enough to see himself into the second qualifying session.
Speaking on TNT Sports ahead of the second free practice session on Saturday, Michael Laverty said Bagnaia was feeling the pressure from another ‘little psychological blow’ from Marquez. He highlighted that Tardozzi is starting to ‘sweat’ more when Ducati try to motivate Bagnaia to start stronger.
“You don’t get a lot of time over a race weekend and we see it with Pecco where he starts steady on a Friday morning, improves in the afternoon. Last time he didn’t get directly through to Q2, he just squeaked it yesterday,” he said.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
“But it just puts the pressure on, it makes the engineers work harder, it makes Davide Tardozzi sweat a little more. They’re trying to motivate Pecco to kick off his weekends in a stronger fashion.
“This mistake luckily didn’t cost him too much. Trailing in, the front tyre, as the road drops away. But it just meant he was under pressure in the dying moments.
“If Jack Miller had have got a lap time in or Frankie Morbidelli, it was a trip through Q1 this afternoon. So it can happen, but he’s just asking a little bit too much of the front.
“It’s not too much in terms of the damage on his weekend but it’s another little psychological blow.”
Mat Oxley had ‘never seen’ Francesco Bagnaia’s crew chief look so ‘nonplussed’ at the Argentina Grand Prix
Everyone in the paddock thinks Marquez will win in Argentina – he has won there three times before. Despite not racing at Termas since 2019, the Spaniard has looked almost unstoppable.
But the 32-year-old could face competition in the Grand Prix. Marquez was left ‘wide-eyed’ by Marco Bezzecchi breaking his lap record in practice before he, his brother and Fabio Di Giannantonio topped him.
Bagnaia being down in 10th will be a huge concern heading into qualifying. Mat Oxley saw Cristian Gabarrini looked so ‘nonplussed’ after practice – something he had ‘never seen’ before from the Italian’s crew chief.
It appears that side of the Ducati garage has little idea how Marquez has been so strong compared to his teammate. Chris Walker thinks Bagnaia is missing Martin being on track as he cannot ‘copy his homework’ – he was accused of looking at the Spaniard data in 2024.
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