‘Rumours’ suggest Ducati could give Francesco Bagnaia what he’s ‘always’ wanted at the Malaysian Grand Prix

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Francesco Bagnaia is in a miserable situation at Ducati as his performances on the GP25 are getting worse every weekend.

The Italian’s form has dropped since 2024, having won only twice in 2025. Bagnaia has struggled to adapt to the GP25 and has been consistently outperformed by Marc Marquez and even satellite Ducati riders.

It seemed that Ducati had made a breakthrough with his bike at Motegi as Bagnaia claimed a double victory. It was revealed that the Borgo Panigale outfit had been testing GP24 parts at Misano, which dramatically improved the 28-year-old’s performance in Japan.

However, with the same bike, he scored no points at Mandalika and Phillip Island and was significantly off the pace. So much so that Bagnaia was less than a second quicker than Moto2 riders at the Australian Grand Prix.

Fermin Aldeguer agreed with Bagnaia about the Desmosedici at Phillip Island, as the pair complained about the bike shaking down the straights. But the latter’s situation is far worse as he aims his frustrations at the manufacturer.

‘Rumours’ suggest Ducati will make changes to Francesco Bagnaia’s bike ‘his Desmosedici’

Bagnaia has created distance with Ducati’s top management as he demands answers for his struggles on the bike. He claimed after Motegi that he had nothing more to prove to the team, as it showed he could win on the machine with the right components that he needed.

The reality is that Ducati have given him the GP24 parts he asked for. In fact, Bagnaia gave Ducati an ‘ultimatum’ to give him the components – they obliged, and he is arguably worse off with his two recent events.

Now, heading into the Malaysian Grand Prix, it is clear that changes are desperately needed. According to MOW, ‘rumours’ suggest that Ducati have agreed with Bagnaia to make changes to the bike that have been ‘unexplored’ in 2025, but what he has ‘always’ called for.

The report states that the team will try to make the GP25 ‘his Desmosedici’, or a ‘more structured’ version of the setup he had at Motegi. Both parties will be desperate to see improvements from these changes, especially when ‘tough’ meetings between Ducati and Bagnaia are expected.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number

What changes could Ducati make to Francesco Bagnaia’s bike at Sepang?

It will be intriguing to see what changes, if any, Ducati make to Bagnaia’s machine. Under the MotoGP regulations, they cannot simply go to the GP24 for the Italian, but they can use certain components that have been homologated under the engine freeze.

According to journalist Simon Patterson, Ducati could potentially run Bagnaia with the setting he had in the Sepang test over the winter. He had an ‘alright’ feeling with it, and it could help to give him peace of mind, as Bagnaia’s head is ‘falling off’ at Ducati.

Patterson said via The Race MotoGP Podcast: “I think that a combination of him not being very confident right now and the setup that they have on the bike not working, just not working, is just making this total mess.

“I mean, he’s been chasing a base setting for six months. Normal people have a base setting in the first round and he’s still chasing one, it feels like. It’ll be really interesting when we go to Sepang.

“You’d imagine that in Sepang, the first thing they’re going to do is send him out on essentially the bike that he finished the Sepang test on, same setup. And he was alright at that point.

“And it’ll be interesting to see whether or not that at least helps him reset his brain. Because this is an issue which started out as a bike that didn’t work the same way as the one that he was used to. But we’re now at the point where, as that situation has got worse, it has made his confidence, his feeling, worse.”