Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is now 147 points behind Ducati teammate Marc Marquez at the halfway point in the 2025 MotoGP season.
There’s a chance that if the Spaniard continues to dominate, he finishes 300 points behind him after the final race in Valencia, by a margin larger than the total number of points it took him to win his first title with in 2022.
Bagnaia’s chances of a third MotoGP title are gone for this campaign, but he still has a lot of hard work to do to find some critical answers heading into 2026.
Otherwise, staying at this pace could see him lose his Ducati seat, which would be a nightmare heading into a new set of regulations.
Bagnaia told Marquez what he ‘can’t’ do at Ducati heading into the German Grand Prix, and his advice worked. The Spaniard romped to a fourth successive double win at the Sachsenring.
After a tough spell, Bagnaia has apologised to Ducati engineers for his struggles and is aware how hard his team is working to rectify his issues with little luck.
READ MORE: Francesco Bagnaia told by his father what he’s now ‘missing’ at Ducati amid 2025 MotoGP struggles
Davide Tardozzi says Ducati ‘don’t know’ why Francesco Bagnaia struggled at the German Grand Prix
Bagnaia changed his behaviour at Ducati and has tried to put more trust in his engineers to find solutions recently, although they appear to have tried a lot in the first 11 races this season.
It’s hard to keep both motivation and morale high for so long, as Marquez continues to dominate on the other side of the garage.
In 2024, Bagnaia claimed 11 victories, while he only has one to show for his efforts in the first half of this campaign.
Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi spoke to TNT Sports after the German Grand Prix and admitted the team didn’t understand why he was so slow in the wet at the Sachsenring.
“We don’t know because he was complaining of a total absence of rear grip,” he said. “This morning was a bit better, but anyway, we don’t know exactly what it was, the problem yesterday.
“While today, not so bad, I think that he had in mind yesterday’s race so he didn’t push harder to try to be second because a podium was enough.”
What happened to Francesco Bagnaia at the German Grand Prix?
For the third time in a row, despite starting outside the top 10, Bagnaia was still able to race his way to a podium in Germany.
An attritional event saw eight riders retire, and only 10 make the finish, as turn one claimed multiple victims on Sunday.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, Marco Bezzecchi, Joan Mir, Ai Ogura and Johann Zarco all suffered falls, eliminating them from inside the top 10.
Bagnaia was one of those who benefited the most from others’ misfortune, securing his seventh podium of 2025 and tightening his grip on second place in the riders’ standings.
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