Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia deserved a lot more reward than he received for his efforts at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
It’s not very often this season that he has looked comfortable on Ducati’s bike, but after a slow start to the weekend, he found a way to have one of his best Saturdays of the year. For now, it was enough to help keep him in the fight for third in the MotoGP standings.
There’s still a lot of work for Bagnaia and his team to do between now and the end of the year, including a vital post-season test, which is critical for their development of the 2026 bike. Not having Marc Marquez on hand to assist them will be a devastating blow, but one they will have to deal with.
Bagnaia had an unfortunate retirement from Sunday’s race in Sepang, after a slow puncture forced him to pull over from third place with a handful of laps to go. Fans couldn’t believe Bagnaia’s bad luck, having fought so hard to earn a trophy, and a deserved one at that.
READ MORE: What Michele Pirro said to Francesco Bagnaia in Ducati garage after Malaysian Grand Prix retirement
Francesco Bagnaia looked like himself for the ‘first time’ in 2025 after aggressive riding in Sepang
Bagnaia has admitted a weak point which may explain a lot of the issues he has faced this season. The Italian rider struggles to adapt to things he doesn’t like at Ducati, which isn’t a good sign for his future beyond 2026.
His contract expires next year, and he’ll need to prove that he’s still worthy of a seat with the factory team. If he fails to improve on what he has produced in 2025, then he could find himself exploring the MotoGP rider market for a new opportunity.
Peter Bom saw some positive signs from Bagnaia in Malaysia, though. For the ‘first time’ this year, he saw him display signs of riding like his former self.
“I might be wrong, but I don’t think I am otherwise, I wouldn’t say it, but it was during qualifying 1 that the first time I saw the real Pecco, maybe from the whole year, coming out,” he said on the Oxley Bom Podcast.
“Qualifying 1 this weekend, he started to smoothly, but at the same time, aggressively, override the bike, and not missing any apex by a centimetre. That was qualifying 1 where he did it. He went to qualifying 2 with only one tyre.
“Now that’s terrible. And then he went out alone like a sure Pecco does, and put it on pole with the same riding style. I said, ‘Now, something really has clicked there. That’s definitely not going to leave anymore.'”
Why Francesco Bagnaia still thinks Ducati are in trouble despite improvements
Bagnaia’s performances over the last five weekends have either yielded victories or no points. In 10 races, that has been the only two forms of result.
His teammate’s absence was meant to be a big opportunity for him to kick on with recent improvements to the GP25 and build some momentum before the winter.
But, Bagnaia thinks Ducati are still in trouble because no one has ever had to face the problems that he has in 2025.
Bagnaia doesn’t blame Marquez’s arrival for his struggles, but being beaten so firmly can’t have been good for his confidence this year.
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