Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia has only won one of the first 10 MotoGP races in 2025. He was supposed to be challenging Ducati teammate Marc Marquez for the title.
Instead, the Italian finds himself third, 126 points off the pace. Even if Alex Marquez misses a race or two with a broken hand, Bagnaia may struggle to mount a meaningful challenge for second.
That’s unlikely to be his priority at this stage. Surely aware that the title is unrealistic, Bagnaia must instead re-establish his confidence to give him a platform for 2026.
In Assen last weekend, he matched his best qualifying result of the season with P2, outpacing a bruised Marquez for just the second time. But he once again struggled in the Sprint, dropping to fifth.
Bagnaia has now missed out on a Saturday podium at five of the last seven races. He fell back in the Grand Prix, though he did rally to pass Pedro Acosta for third.
Francesco Bagnaia won’t get the new Michelin tyre that he craved
Bagnaia has repeatedly complained this year that he lacks the necessary ‘feeling’ with the front end. But after testing Michelin’s 2026 front tyre prototype, he was enthusiastic.
“I love this tyre!” Bagnaia said, via Paddock GP. “I really needed it. As a rider who uses a lot of braking to enter corners, this tyre performed extremely well.”
Unfortunately, Michelin announced over the Assen weekend that they will no longer be introducing the new compound for next year. It will be their final season in the series before Pirelli take over.
The French manufacturer feared that they would suffer unnecessary PR damage before they start supplying World Superbikes.
“Bagnaia was one of those riders who was perhaps anticipating this new construction to help him in some way,” Adam Wheeler said on the Paddock Pass podcast.
David Emmett replied: “The new construction tyre is wider and has a different profile, but that makes the bikes a little bit heavier to turn. It does give a lot of confidence in the front – Pecco Bagnaia was very keen, Jorge Martin was quite keen, Marco Bezzecchi was not at all keen.
“There wasn’t really enough of a consensus for Michelin for want to do it. Michelin were afraid really that, if they did introduce it, there would be riders who benefited and riders who had a disadvantage, and it would end up with riders complaining about Michelins.”
Pecco Bagnaia’s surprising statement after Dutch Grand Prix P3
Bagnaia was impressed by Fabio Quartararo last weekend as the Yamaha star took his fourth pole position of the season. He’s the only non-Marquez polesitter in 2025.
Even when the six-time premier-class champion isn’t dominant, Bagnaia isn’t able to capitalise. Marquez clearly wasn’t 100% fit after his heavy practice crashes in the Netherlands, but he still picked up maximum points.
Still, Bagnaia surprisingly said he’d had his best weekend. That was despite finishing behind Marco Bezzecchi’s Aprilia.
The bar has clearly been lowered for the 2022 and 2023 title winner. As he admitted in that very same interview, he feels he’s fighting against ‘the DNA of a bike’.
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