Francesco Bagnaia admits his ‘big limitation’ has been exposed as Marc Marquez gap widens at Spanish Grand Prix

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Francesco Bagnaia has fallen further behind Ducati teammate Marc Marquez in the 2025 MotoGP season. The Spaniard grabbed the Sprint win at the Grand Prix of Spain.

The result marks the 32-year-old’s eighth win out of a possible nine in 2025. Marquez dominated the Sprint after polesitter Fabio Quartararo crashed out in the opening stages.

Bagnaia had shown strong signs of performance on Friday, finishing second in free practice behind Alex Marquez. Qualifying third, the Italian could not make any progress as he was overtaken by the Gresini rider.

Quartararo’s crash gave Bagnaia the final spot on the podium. However, the Italian offered little competition to his teammate, finishing three seconds off of Marquez.

It was another example of the two-time MotoGP champion being unable to mount a serious challenge to his teammate. After this latest defeat, he now sits 31 points behind Marquez.

Francesco Bagnaia’s ‘big limitation’ was exposed at the Spanish Grand Prix Sprint as he admits he is ‘struggling’ to overtake

Bagnaia has registered just one win in 2025 thus far, claiming victory in Austin. The Italian inherited the win after Marquez crashed from the lead.

It has been a difficult start to the season for the 28-year-old, with his teammate the clear favourite for the title. But he is not looking to give up, with Bagnaia thanking Italian media for exposing a fake story claiming he was.

However, it is clear that improvements need to be made, with Ducati pushing Bagnaia to start weekends stronger. While he showed strong signs in qualifying, he fell backwards in the Sprint.

Speaking with Sky Sport Italy after the race, he admitted he was ‘struggling’ to overtake, with it being his ‘big limitation’. He even said he would have finished fourth had Quartararo finished the race.

“It was a ‘classic’ Sprint, as is often happening to me,” he said. “I’m struggling, we have the tests on Monday to try some solutions.

“Where I start I arrive, it’s difficult for me to overtake: when I try to get close to the rider in front I start to have big problems with the front. If Quartararo had been there I probably would have finished 4th. It’s a big limitation of mine, I know I have to improve but I’m struggling to take this step.

“On Sunday everything comes easy to me, on Saturday not. On Sunday the race will be fast, we have to avoid overdoing it in the first laps”

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

Francesco Bagnaia must find improvements to win the 2025 MotoGP title

As the gap to Marquez increases, Bagnaia is running out of time to catch his teammate. He has to find a way to mitigate his limitations and find some top results.

The Italian is stronger than in the longer races, but even then, the pace deficit to Marquez for most of the season has been alarming. Aleix Espargaro says it will be ‘very difficult’ for Bagnaia in the title race as the Spaniard has ‘everything’ under control.

The two-time champion knows he has to improve and he wants to just focus on the task at hand. Bagnaia was close to ‘losing his temper’ in Qatar as he stressed he was adamant he is not making mistakes because of pressure from Marquez.

Ducati insiders says Bagnaia knows he must score points on offer to try and beat Marquez. It is exactly how Jorge Martin beat him to the title in 2024 – he cannot afford to make any further mistakes.