Francesco Bagnaia spotted making ‘weird’ gesture after losing five places at San Marino Grand Prix

Add as preferred source on Google

Francesco Bagnaia’s optimism was dented once again as he slipped from eighth on the grid to 13th in the San Marino Grand Prix Sprint. And he appeared to become disengaged during the race.

Davide Tardozzi indicated that Misano could be a turning point for Bagnaia, who progressed to Q2 directly on Friday evening after two straight races in Q1. While eighth was still an underwhelming result on Saturday morning, it gave him a platform to fight.

Unfortunately, he once again looked lost in the Sprint. Bagnaia finished between the rookie Ai Ogura and Pramac’s Jack Miller, who had started 21st.

It’s the seventh time this year that Bagnaia has failed to score points in a Sprint race, and the fourth in succession. While teammate Marc Marquez crashed here, he’s won 14 out of 17 overall on the same machinery.

Francesco Bagnaia was ‘looking at the screens’ during Misano Sprint

As Bagnaia toiled in the midfield, TNT Sports commentator Gavin Emmett noticed that he seemed to be looking at the TV screens. This is unusual for a rider in the heat of battle, but Emmett suspects he may have been deliberately hinting that he felt like a spectator.

Bagnaia could be seen shaking his head soon afterwards, highlighting his dissatisfaction with the Ducati GP25. Emmett’s colleague Neil Hodgson says the two-time world champion looks ‘anxious’ and anything but natural on the saddle.

Marco Bezzecchi’s win, and Bagnaia’s non-score, means the Aprilia star is now only 28 points behind. Rider #63 is running the risk of dropping out of the top three.

• READ MORE: MotoGP Sprint race results as Marco Bezzecchi wins after Marc Marquez crash at Misano

Emmett said: “You can see him almost looking at the screens as he’s riding around. There was a look at the screen then, as if to say, ‘I’m watching the race from here’. How weird.”

Hodgson replied: “He’s shaking his head! It’s like he’s thinking whilst he’s riding, rather than it being just instinctive.

“He knows this track so well. The sensation you get when you’re in a groove, it’s instinctive. You’re not thinking about it, it just happens naturally. I feel like he’s so anxious on the bike, that’s why he’s shaking his head.”

Pecco Bagnaia’s worrying body language on the San Marino Grand Prix grid

Before the race had even started, Hodgson questioned whether Bagnaia looked motivated. His Sunday form has been stronger all season – he rallied to seventh in Barcelona after an anonymous ride to 14th in the shorter format.

“We showed him on the line just before the start of the race, and you could say he didn’t really look up for it,” Hodgson said.

Jorge Lorenzo says Bagnaia is ‘excessively sensitive’, just as he was during his career. That means he ‘suffers’ more when the bike is outside the ideal window.

Perhaps the radical solution Bagnaia really needs is for the team to go back to last year’s bike. But understandably, Marc Marquez has made clear he won’t revert to the GP24, and Ducati would need both riders to agree.