Alex Barros warns Francesco Bagnaia ‘you’re done for’ if the Ducati rider says one thing at Italian Grand Prix

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Francesco Bagnaia is bidding for a hat-trick of Mugello doubles at the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, as well as the Ducati rider’s fourth consecutive win at his home event.

No rider has beaten Bagnaia at the Italian GP since Fabio Quartararo back in 2021, when the Turin native had yet to win any premier class race. The 28-year-old has since followed in the footsteps of Valentino Rossi to become the new master of Mugello, and enjoy a flawless run.

Bagnaia won his first Italian GP en route to his first MotoGP title in 2022, before winning the Mugello Sprint and the Grand Prix in 2023 and 2024. He will now hope to add to that tally in Tuscany, with Bagnaia 93 points behind Ducati teammate Marc Marquez in the standings.

Francesco Bagnaia is ‘done for’ in the 2025 MotoGP title race if he speaks a big game at Mugello

Bagnaia has been humbled in the Ducati garage since Marquez joined from Gresini ahead of the 2025 MotoGP season to replace Enea Bastianini. While the Italian has only won once so far this year, the Spaniard boasts seven Sprint wins and four Grand Prix wins in eight rounds.

The pair are also fighting over the Bologna Bullets’ upgrades, as Bagnaia wants Ducati’s new fairing tested at Aragon while Marquez wants to keep testing the part first. Bagnaia changed his front brake discs for the Aragon GP, as well, and is more comfortable on the GP25 since.

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

But while moving from 340mm to 355mm discs helped the 2022 and 2023 champion, Alex Barros believes Bagnaia must now back it up at the Italian GP. The seven-time premier class race winner also thinks he must prove it on the track at Mugello and not through his words.

Barros said on PecinoGP: “He put the brakes on and on Sunday, he really improved because Saturday’s race was horrible. It was terrible for him. Then he did well on Sunday, but he has to prove it now.

“And if he says even more, all it means is that he’s put a lot of pressure on himself. Now, it’s like this, if you’re not fighting with Marc, you don’t even need to win. You just need to be competitive and get ahead of Alex [Marquez]. You’re done for, you don’t have to talk.”

Ducati want Pecco Bagnaia to hunt down Alex Marquez before thinking about Marc

Barros is not alone in suggesting that Bagnaia needs to hunt down Gresini star Alex Marquez before the Ducati ace can then think about overturning his 93-point deficit to Marc Marquez in the 2025 riders’ standings. The younger Marquez brother also leads Bagnaia by 61 points.

Davide Tardozzi refuses to rule Bagnaia out of the 2025 MotoGP title race, but Ducati’s team manager told him after the Aragon GP to focus on Alex Marquez before then targeting Marc. Alex came second to Marc in both races at MotorLand, as Bagnaia took P3 in the Grand Prix.

There would be no better place for Bagnaia to prove he is still in the title race than Mugello, where Marc Marquez has not won since the 2014 MotoGP season. Yet losing to the 32-year-old in Ducati’s home race could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for his title hopes.