Francesco Bagnaia finally admits the ‘weak point’ that may explain his 2025 Ducati crisis

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Francesco Bagnaia is in crisis at Ducati as he cannot explain why he has been so inconsistent in 2025.

The Italian has struggled to be competitive this season after having trouble adapting to the GP25. Before the Japanese GP, he had won just one race.

Bagnaia has been demanding answers from Ducati after the team made changes to his bike, which gave him a double win at Motegi. But with the same machine and set-up, he scored no points at Mandalika and Phillip Island.

Ducati planned further changes to Bagnaia’s bike at the Malaysian Grand Prix, giving him the set-up he had in the Sepang test. Initially, it looked like it did not work as he failed to make it to Q2 automatically.

But he turned it around on Saturday as he claimed pole position and the Sprint win. He looked on course for a podium on Sunday, until a rear tyre puncture forced him to retire in the closing stages.

Francesco Bagnaia admits his ‘weak point’ is adapting to things he does not like at Ducati

Bagnaia has not found the right balance with his GP25 all season, constantly changing set-ups and components to improve his feeling. While improvements are being made, he admits that he is being held back by things he does not like.

Speaking via Motosan after the Malaysian GP, he said that this adaptation is his ‘weak point’ and that he is struggling to improve.

“We’re improving our performance, our speed,” he explained. “And maybe we’re figuring out what’s going on. But right now it’s not so clear for the team, or for me. So, who deserves it more?

“This win belongs to the team, for the hard work they’re doing. Honestly, I’m just here to push. When I feel good, I do races like this. And when I don’t perform well, I just scream in the garage. So they’re the ones doing their job.”

He added: “I’m not good at adapting to things I don’t like. It’s my weak point, and even though I’m working on it, I’m struggling to improve.

“So I just try to always share my best feelings and the details I notice on the bike with the team, and I think we’re working well. But I think I felt better today, more than just adapting to the rear end.”

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

Ducati are ‘in trouble’ despite Francesco Bagnaia improvements in Malaysia

It was clear that Ducati had made some progress with Bagnaia in Malaysia. The setup changes allowed him to fight at the front and gave him a better feeling.

His pole and Sprint win prove that improvements have been made, but the problem has been consistency. Bagnaia has been unable to maintain that performance, with his rear tyre puncture giving Ducati another problem to deal with.

Bagnaia said Ducati are still ‘in trouble’ after winning the Sprint as they struggle to find consistency. His crisis has worsened with his third retirement in a row on Sunday.

With two races to go and with Marco Bezzecchi now back ahead of him in third in the standings, Bagnaia is running out of time to fix his problems. He may already be looking ahead to 2026, where he hopes to mount a better challenge at the front.