Jorge Lorenzo shares what has ‘demoralised’ Francesco Bagnaia since Marc Marquez joined Ducati

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Francesco Bagnaia knew he would be in for an almighty battle in 2025 when Marc Marquez joined him at Ducati, but not many would have expected him to struggle as much as he has.

Bagnaia’s crew chief warned him about Marquez during his junior days, stating that he was one to keep an eye on. Of course, his prediction would be spot on as he went on to win six MotoGP titles with Honda, before claiming his seventh in 2025 with Ducati.

The Ant of Cervera has dominated the season, winning 25 races, including Sprints. Meanwhile, Bagnaia has had trouble adapting to the GP25, currently sitting fourth in the standings, 259 points behind his now-injured teammate.

The Italian has constantly complained about a lack of feeling from the front end, which has hampered his strengths in braking and corner entry. He has offered no threat to Marquez for much of the season, only beating him once on track all year at Motegi.

Jorge Lorenzo says Marc Marquez’s pace has ‘demoralised’ Francesco Bagnaia

Marquez has always been a nightmare for his teammates in MotoGP, regularly dominating them. Jorge Lorenzo knows this first-hand from his time at Honda, and he says Bagnaia is experiencing the same in 2025.

Speaking to AS, he explained that Bagnaia has been ‘demoralised’ by Marquez’s pace and the deficit between them throughout the season. He certainly would have expected to be closer to the Spaniard.

Asked if Marquez is worse as a rival or a teammate, Lorenzo answered: “In the end, what really gets to you is when you take off your helmet, look at the times, and see that your teammate has beaten you by half a second or a second.

“More than anything they might say off the track, in their statements, in that famous psychological warfare that, for example, they said was so intense between Valentino Rossi and Gibernau, Capirossi, and Biaggi, right?

“But Valentino was simply a bit faster than them on almost every track and he beat them on the track. Because if Gibernau, Biagi, and Capirossi had been half a second faster than Valentino, all that psychological warfare off the track would have been for nothing.

“What throws your teammate off balance is your superior speed, which is, for example, what happened in my case in 2012 with Ben Spies. I was clearly faster than Ben Spies, and he started to lose his composure psychologically, and that’s kind of what’s happening now with Bagnaia and Márquez, isn’t it?

“Bagnaia certainly didn’t expect that speed difference with Marc. He thought that at worst he’d be a little behind, or normally more or less the same, but he didn’t expect Márquez to always be superior.

“That’s demoralised him a bit; it makes you less confident in yourself and go out on the track with some doubts about your speed, about your ability.”

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

Francesco Bagnaia’s struggles against Marc Marquez will only get worse in 2026

Bagnaia does not blame Marquez for his woes at Ducati in 2025, as he is experiencing the same problems whether his teammate is on the track or not.

The Italian will just be hoping to end the season strongly at Portimao and Valencia and look forward to 2026. However, given the form of Marquez, next year may not be any better.

Davide Brivio says Bagnaia will not fight Marquez for the title next season until he is at one with his bike and Ducati. The 28-year-old has expressed frustration towards his team over his lack of feeling with the GP25, leading top management to distance themselves from Bagnaia.

Marquez says Bagnaia’s struggles will not affect development for Ducati’s 2026 bike. However, they will certainly look to the Spaniard in terms of their direction for the GP26, which could spell bad news for his teammate.