Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is back to square one after suffering yet another confusing weekend at the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Just a week prior at Motegi, Ducati were on top of the world as Marc Marquez claimed the riders’ title and his teammate returned to true form. Bagnaia dominated the weekend, winning the sprint and Grand Prix, as well as taking pole position.
The two-time MotoGP champion never really got started in Mandalika, as he failed to make Q2 before spending the rest of the weekend coasting along in last place. There was little he could do to force a result from his bike.
Bagnaia’s Ducati woes are ‘deeply personal’ and it’s a worrying sign for his future beyond the end of 2026. When his contract expires, he’ll be in demand, but might not receive an offer from his employer on current form. Carlo Pernat has told Ducati to trade Bagnaia, but that would be an extreme solution.
READ MORE: Ducati are ‘at the end of their rope’ with Francesco Bagnaia after what he did to title celebrations
Luigi Dall’Igna’s Ducati plan for 2026 shows Francesco Bagnaia was right about the GP25
It’s no secret that Bagnaia hasn’t enjoyed riding the GP25 this year. Of the three riders with the equipment, only Marc Marquez has excelled. He won 11 races on a GP24 last year, while he has just two to show for his efforts in 2025.
Everyone is talking about Bagnaia’s Ducati issue, and despite his team’s best efforts to avoid the publicity, it’s hard for them to deflect the attention. Rumours that he tested Franco Morbidelli’s GP24 at Misano were confirmed by VR46, only for Ducati to go one step further and deny them yet again.
Whether he did or not doesn’t matter too much, but it does show how much the Italian rider clearly prefers his older machinery. It also leaves people wondering what Marquez might, or might have achieved, on an upgraded GP24 this year or in the future.
Journalist Dennis Noyes has now revealed that he believes next year’s Ducati will be an ‘upgraded’ version of the GP24. That way, if Bagnaia fails, it will be hard to pin the blame on any of the team’s shortfalls.
“Ducati seem determined to convince us that the GP25 is better than the 24,” he said on X (formerly known as Twitter). “When, in fact, what they admit is that it is only truly effective in the hands of Marc.
“Next year, the 26 will be basically an upgraded 24. If Marc had a 24, he’d have broken those records he left unbroken.”
Francesco Bagnaia encountered ‘something wrong’ for Ducati in Indonesia
After crashing out of Sunday’s race in Indonesia, Bagnaia looked visibly confused and distraught and he walked away from his bike.
He suffered a peculiar fall at the last corner, but there might have been one small explanation for his woes earlier in the weekend.
He admitted during an episode of INSIDE Ducati that the soft tyre had been better for him, but it was taking too long for his Michelin rubber to come to life.
“For me, there’s something wrong because it takes four laps to perform well. Yes, with the soft it’s better, but it doesn’t work properly.”
Perhaps it was the unique tyre introduced for the weekend that caused his troubles, but looking at the other Ducati riders, it shouldn’t have been the sole cause of his bad weekend.
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