Francesco Bagnaia just summed up his relationship with the Ducati team in three words

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Francesco Bagnaia is, without doubt, a Ducati legend. But his relationship with the team has clearly been tested this year.

Marc Marquez recently became the third Ducati rider to win the world title in the MotoGP era (if one includes Jorge Martin, who won for the Pramac satellite team last year). But Bagnaia is the only one who has won multiple championships.

At the start of next year, Bagnaia will make his 100th start for the Borgo Panigale team. In 95 appearances to date, he has won 31 times.

The fact that he’s taken victory in nearly a third of his Ducati races, despite his dismal 2025 campaign, is telling. His podium rate remains as high as 60%.

Struggling Francesco Bagnaia says Ducati are his ‘family’

Bagnaia demanded an explanation from Ducati during a miserable Indonesian GP weekend, where he finished last in the Sprint and fell in the Grand Prix.

Despite Marquez’s historic success on the same bike, Bagnaia feels he has nothing more to prove. One journalist says that’s the kind of comment that could make his relationship with Ducati ‘untenable’.

Indeed, Ducati are at the ‘end of their rope’ with Bagnaia, whose plight has rather overshadowed their success in the teams’ and constructors’ championships.

However, speaking at the Festival dello Sport in his native Italy, Bagnaia summed up his bond with the Borgo Panigale squad in three words – ‘it’s my family’. It seems the events of 2025 haven’t weakened his long-standing attachment to the brand.

“I’ve dreamed about [racing for Ducati] since I was a child,” he said. “It’s my family.”

Is this team change the perfect solution for Pecco Bagnaia?

Carlo Pernat has declared that Ducati should swap Bagnaia and Martin, who tried to escape his Aprilia contract earlier this year. That’s unlikely to be feasible.

In fact, Bagnaia’s only alternative is VR46. One suspects that mentor Valentino Rossi would welcome him to the team.

Bagnaia could continue on a Ducati contract, but potentially ride a GP24 next year. He won a career-high 11 races on the bike, one of the finest in MotoGP history, last season.

While satellite riders theoretically face less pressure, the radical step would invite enormous media attention. Bagnaia will almost certainly stay at Luigi Dall’Igna’s team until at least the end of his contract in the knowledge that a repeat of 2025 is unconscionable for both parties.