Marco Bezzecchi
The 2025 MotoGP season is a campaign that Francesco Bagnaia will want to forget as his endless struggles at Ducati continue.
The two-time champion stepped off the bike that won him 11 races in 2024 and onto the GP25, which he has struggled to adapt to. Bagnaia has constantly complained about a lack of feeling, particularly from the front end and in braking.
Meanwhile, teammate Marc Marquez has shown what the new Desmosedici is capable of, having claimed 10 Grand Prix wins and 13 Sprint victories. Bagnaia has one win to his name, after he benefitted from the Spaniard crashing from the lead at COTA.
The other Ducati riders felt no differences with the GP25 when they tested this year’s engine, while Bagnaia has had issues all season. Frustrations have been growing, especially after two miserable weekends at the Red Bull Ring and Balaton Park.
He fell from third to eighth in Austria, prompting Bagnaia to say he was out of patience with Ducati. He failed to reach Q2 last time out in Hungary, finishing 13th in the Sprint and ninth on Sunday.
Franco Morbidelli says the ‘answer’ to Francesco Bagnaia’s struggles is to ‘work hard’ and not focus on winning
Bagnaia is 227 points behind Marquez with eight races to go, highlighting the sheer scale of his struggles. Franco Morbidelli faced a similar situation at Yamaha back in 2022 and 2023, where he could not compete with teammate Fabio Quartararo.
While the VR46 rider says Bagnaia’s problems are ‘even more difficult’ than the ones he faced, the ‘answer’ is to work hard with the team and focus on matching the other side of the garage, rather than winning.
“Something similar happened to me between 2022 and 2023. In 2023, Quartararo fought for the world championship, and I couldn’t do better than eighth place. The answer was hard work. With the team, with my collaborators,” Morbidelli told MowMag.
“My answer wasn’t to win again, but to match Quartararo’s performances. And in any case, the Yamaha of those years isn’t the Ducati of today.
“And yet, in the end, we started to have similar performances until Yamaha and I announced we were splitting. Up until then, my championship was on par with Quartararo’s, and in fact, we finished with the same number of points.
“It’s a scaled example, yes, because Ducati sets an even higher bar, and the Marc Marquez of today isn’t the Quartararo of 2022 and 2023, even though Fabio is very strong. Pecco’s task is even more difficult.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
Ducati hold serious meetings with Francesco Bagnaia as they search for answers to his 2025 problems
The Hungarian GP was the Italian’s worst weekend of the 2025 season, but he was not left feeling that way when he crossed the line on Sunday. Ducati held ‘very serious’ meetings with Bagnaia about how to fix the bike, and they seemed to have found a solution.
The 28-year-old would not detail exactly what was changed, only stating that the difference was in centimetres rather than millimetres. Ducati may have given Bagnaia the modifications he wants as he felt much more comfortable during the race.
Davide Tardozzi wants to see Bagnaia improve his form, with the Borgo Panigale showing constant commitment to helping their star rider.
However, Luigi Dall’Igna says results must come from Bagnaia as he continues to mount pressure on the Italian. He could lose third place in the standings to the charging Marco Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta if his form does not improve.
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