Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is desperate to find form in 2025. Despite recording his best start to a MotoGP season, he has struggled to keep up with the Marquez brothers.
The two-time MotoGP champion has claimed one win this season, inheriting victory in Austin after Marc Marquez crashed out from the lead.
Bagnaia is 20 points behind leader Alex Marquez in the standings coming into the French Grand Prix. Despite grabbing eight podiums from the first 10 races, he has been largely uncompetitive compared to the Marquez brothers.
The Italian has finished third six times in 2025 as he has struggled to mount a challenge in races, particularly on Saturday. Luigi Dall’Igna warned Bagnaia he cannot aim for third place, but he is struggling to find that extra performance.
Bagnaia’s ‘big limitation’ was exposed at Jerez as he found it difficult to make moves in the dirty air. Coming into Le Mans, the 28-year-old has to find improvements, with Ducati engineers starting to make comparisons to Fabio Quartararo.
Ducati engineers laud Francesco Bagnaia’s ‘amazing’ trail braking trait he can ‘master’ with Fabio Quartararo
The Yamaha rider suddenly emerged as a frontrunner at the Spanish Grand Prix as he secured a stunning pole position – his and the team’s first in nearly three years.
Quartararo lost his lead to Alex Marquez, but held on to second at the expense of Bagnaia. The 2021 champion will be keen to mix with the Ducatis on home soil as Yamaha take an encouraging step forward.
Meanwhile, Bagnaia is finding it difficult to adapt to the GP25. Thomas Baujard discussed what Ducati engineers are privately saying about the Italian, as they compare his ‘amazing’ trail braking trait to Quartararo.
“I feel sorry for the guy, because when you talk to his engineers, they said the type of brake pressure he can put on is amazing,” said Baujard via the Paddock Pass Podcast.
“He is one of the two riders that is the master of trail braking, three riders with Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo.
“He’s very, very consistent, he doesn’t make a lot of noise, but this year, he is not completely at one with his machine and with such a tight field, he’s getting punished.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
Ducati are mounting more pressure on Francesco Bagnaia as Marc Marquez is favoured at Le Mans
Bagnaia is still in the title picture with 17 rounds to go. However, it does not look like he can get close to his teammate Marquez, or even Alex Marquez, who is on year-old machinery.
Ducati are beginning to mount more pressure on the Italian, with Dall’Igna stating that he has fallen short of expectations. Despite having the best start to a season in his MotoGP career, Bagnaia has accepted the criticism, knowing he has to improve.
The 28-year-old is running out of time to establish an advantage at Ducati. Marquez is rumoured to be running the new chassis at Le Mans before Bagnaia, after he suffered a torrid time at Jerez during testing, registering 17th on the timesheets.
Alex Marquez urges fans not to ‘give up’ on Bagnaia as he can turn things around quickly when he is in the groove. But the two-time champion is yet to find it in 2025 and he has to act fast before he falls further behind.
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