Marc Marquez has just explained the ‘problem’ that is hampering Francesco Bagnaia at Ducati in 2025

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Marc Marquez is displaying his dominance over Francesco Bagnaia at Ducati in 2025. The Italian is struggling to keep up with his teammate.

Bagnaia has enjoyed his best start to a MotoGP season, with one win and eight podiums. While he does sit 20 points behind championship leader Alex Marquez, he is finding it difficult to compete with the Gresini rider and brother Marc Marquez.

The 32-year-old has won eight out of the opening 10 races thus far, claiming pole position in all but one event. Marquez would have been leading the standings by some distance had he not crashed out in Austin and Jerez.

It seems the only rider that can beat the Spaniard so far is himself, with these two falls costing him dearly. Bagnaia inadvertently caused Marquez’s crash at Jerez as he applied pressure with aggressive overtakes.

That was the first time in 2025 that the two-time champion looked to challenge his teammate. Bagnaia has been struggling to adapt to the GP25 and is noticeably behind Marquez in every area.

Marc Marquez says Francesco Bagnaia’s ‘problem’ is struggling to cope with faster races in 2025

Bagnaia’s ‘big limitation’ was exposed at Jerez as he struggled to overtake in the dirty air of the rider in front. The Italian has finished third six times this season, often being beaten by Alex Marquez on a year-old machine.

Neil Hodgson says Bagnaia is ‘missing’ speed on corner entry as another hypothesis for his struggles. Teammate Marquez suspects the Italian is having issues adapting to the new Desmosedici.

Speaking with Marca ahead of the French Grand Prix, the 32-year-old says Bagnaia’s ‘problem’ is that the races are faster in 2025. He has stressed the two-time champion must ‘adapt’, but Marquez cannot knock his teammate’s speed.

“I see a strong, solid Pecco, who has scored a lot of points, who is going fast. The problem is that, for now, the races are faster than last year,” he said.

“The bikes evolve and you have to adapt, but Pecco is going very fast and is regularly on the podium. Without making much noise, he’s third in the World Championship, 20 points behind Álex.”

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

Francesco Bagnaia knows he must improve to beat Marc Marquez

It is not as though the Italian is completely underperforming in 2025. Ducati engineers lauded Bagnaia’s ‘amazing’ trail braking trait, similar to that of Marquez and Fabio Quartararo.

However, his teammate is a level above this season. Marquez has stepped onto a factory Ducati bike and found performance immediately, while Bagnaia looks uncomfortable on the GP25.

Even in testing at Jerez, the 28-year-old appeared to have difficulties as he languished in 17th. Ducati are beginning to apply the pressure on Bagnaia to keep pace with his teammate.

Luigi Dall’Igna has been critical of the two-time champion, insisting that he cannot afford to settle for third. Bagnaia has accepted the criticism, knowing he must pick it up and take the fight to the Marquez brothers.