Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is having the worst weekend of his 2025 season at the Catalan Grand Prix. And it’s undoubtedly one of the lowest points of his MotoGP career too.
Bagnaia qualified 21st at the Catalan Grand Prix, his worst showing since the 2022 Portuguese GP. He was half a second off the time he needed to reach Q2.
The Italian will only start ahead of three riders – Maverick Vinales, who is coming back from injury, Lorenzo Savadori, an Aprilia test rider, and Somkiat Chantra, who is set to lose his spot on the grid in 2026. He was outqualified by Honda’s wildcard entrant Aleix Espargaro.
Bagnaia was hopeful he’d made a breakthrough at the Hungarian GP last time out after a radical change to the bike allowed him to ride aggressively. But continuing the cycle of the season, it has proved to be a false dawn.
Marc Marquez says Francesco Bagnaia is ‘constantly being questioned’ in the media
Speaking on Friday evening, Marc Marquez acknowledged that Bagnaia is ‘going through a very difficult’ time psychologically. He’s fallen 227 points off the pace in the championship.
Most worryingly, Bagnaia appears to be getting further away from a solution. He’s scored 12 podiums this year, across the two formats, but has only managed two in his last 11 starts.
Marquez, who may be disguising a drop-off in competitiveness from Ducati, is confident that Bagnaia will return to form once he regains his confidence. He feels the ‘constant’ scrutiny isn’t helping.
Bagnaia’s unravelling has been one of the biggest stories of the season. He was just 11 points away from a championship three-peat as recently as last November.
“I’m not going to camouflage or deceive,” Marquez said, via Motosan. “He’s going through a very difficult time, both mentally and in terms of confidence, and this means he’s not riding as well as he’s capable of.
“So, when this media hype dies down, he’ll surely calm down again, and from there he has to start rebuilding his confidence, which he’s obviously lost in these last two races.
“But it’s not easy for a rider to be in a difficult situation, lacking confidence and exposed so much in the media, and constantly being questioned. But he’s a two-time MotoGP world champion and has the skills and qualities to do it.”
Where would Francesco Bagnaia be on a GP24? Experts agree on the answer
The ‘universal view’ is that Bagnaia would be comfortably second in the standings, above Alex Marquez, if he was riding last year’s Ducati. He initially gave positive feedback on the GP25 but a fundamental disconnect has progressively emerged.
Bagnaia’s Ducati future could be in doubt if the crisis continues into 2026. That was unthinkable at the start of the year, but the current situation doesn’t appear sustainable.
The hope is that he can find some grounds for encouragement in the remaining rounds. However, both parties are at a loss to explain why he’s so far off the pace.
Bagnaia won twice at this venue last season, but the form guide has meant nothing for the 28-year-old. He faces a battle to even score points this weekend.
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