Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia is now fighting for his future as a factory Ducati rider after his year of woe in 2025, which saw Marc Marquez secure control in the Borgo Panigale squad.
Marquez entered what was very much Bagnaia’s home when he joined Ducati at the start of this year. But the Spaniard turned the Bologna Bullets into his team over the course of 2025, as he guided Ducati to all three titles while Bagnaia failed to adapt to the Desmosedici GP25.
Despite Marquez missing the final four rounds due to injury, the 32-year-old still finished the season with 545 points. Bagnaia scored just 288 points and also ended the term only fifth in the standings, behind Alex Marquez (467), Marco Bezzecchi (353) and Pedro Acosta (307).
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Ducati’s ride height device created Francesco Bagnaia’s problems in 2025
Such was the extent of his plight in 2025 that it is even said that Ducati have already decided to part ways with Bagnaia when his contract expires in 2026. It has also been suggested that Bagnaia could have to take a pay cut to stay at Ducati, as they prioritise Marquez’s new deal.
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Nobuatsu Aoki believes Ducati are just as much to blame for Bagnaia’s problems in 2025, as the changes they made to the ride height device on the GP25 were “incompatible” with the 28-year-old’s riding style. So, the Italian frequently struggled to turn the GP25 as he desired.
Former Suzuki rider Aoki said, via Motosan: “The Desmosedici has a hydraulic adjuster for the suspension height adjustment device, a device that seems to have improved every year.
“In 2025, a new mechanism was installed in the fairing, apparently intended to control the speed of the suspension height change.
“The latest holeshot and Bagnaia’s riding style were incompatible. Bagnaia wanted to slide the rear of the bike as much as possible to create a slight sideslip and turn in tighter. But the adjustment device prevented Bagnaia from achieving the desired sideslip angle.”
Ducati will not want to waste time with the ride height device in 2026 ahead of the 2027 ban
Change our minds: Francesco Bagnaia will not fight for the championship in 2026
Ducati privately admitted that Bagnaia struggled with their 2025 ride height device, as their latest design changed the balance of the GP25 and how it braked compared to the GP24 on which the Italian fell just 10 points shy of winning the riders’ title for a third season in a row.
Pablo Nieto even claimed ahead of the Australian Grand Prix this October that Luigi Dall’Igna told him that Ducati did not have an “answer” for Bagnaia’s struggles in the 2025 season. He headed to Phillip Island amid a run of what would be six DNFs across the final seven rounds.
Bagnaia only finished a race towards the end of the 2025 season when he won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position, beating Marquez by 4.196s. He also won the Sprint at Motegi, and he went on to win the Sprint at Sepang, as the curtain started to fall on his sorry season.
Now, the Turin native will have to hope that he can adapt to whatever changes Ducati make, if any, to their ride height device for the GP26. Ducati will not want to waste any time trying to adapt their ride height device during the 2026 season, given they will be banned in 2027.
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