Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia endured a year of woe through 2025, as the Italian fell from fighting for the MotoGP title in each of the four previous seasons to coming fifth.
Prior to the 2025 MotoGP season, Bagnaia had never finished outside the top two positions in the riders’ standings since he joined the factory Ducati team in 2021. The 28-year-old had also never taken fewer Grand Prix wins, podiums and pole positions for the Bologna Bullets.
Bagnaia only registered two Grand Prix wins, eight podiums and three poles over the record 22 rounds staged during 2025. The Turin native even took 12 rounds to get his first pole and 17 rounds to score his first win on merit, which came on the weekend of his first Sprint win.
In round three, Bagnaia won the Americas Grand Prix after Marc Marquez crashed from the lead at COTA. But it was truly the Bagnaia show in round 17, as he beat Marquez to win the Sprint and Grand Prix at Motegi from pole on the weekend that his teammate won the title.
Change our minds: Francesco Bagnaia will not fight for the championship in 2026
Massimo Rivola thinks the only thing Francesco Bagnaia lost in 2025 was ‘confidence’
Bagnaia’s inability to adapt to Ducati’s ride height device in 2025 played a central role in his woes. His issues especially snowballed after the summer break, as the Japanese GP marked the Italian’s only podium over the final 10 Grands Prix as he slipped to fifth in the standings.
READ MORE: The best moments of Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP career
Yet Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola has told Gazzetta dello Sport that Bagnaia has “everything” he needs to rebuild his damaged reputation at Ducati in 2026. The only thing the two-time champion lost in 2025 is confidence, having seen what Marquez could deliver on the GP25.
Rivola said: “I think Pecco has everything it takes to rebuild himself at Ducati. He doesn’t have to prove his speed to anyone, he just needs to regain some confidence.”
Francesco Bagnaia needs to rebuild himself to save his Ducati MotoGP career
Bagnaia appears to agree with Rivola’s belief that the Ducati rider only needs to regain some confidence to have a bounce-back year in 2026. After enduring a year of woe through 2025, Bagnaia feels he has to “rediscover the feeling” with his Ducati as his pace has not vanished.
The end of the 2025 season was especially harmful for Bagnaia’s confidence, along with his reputation at Ducati. Bagnaia fell to fifth in the standings as he only finished one of the final seven Grands Prix when he won in Japan. Now, his days at Ducati might even be numbered.
It is said that Ducati have already decided to release Bagnaia when his contract expires after the 2026 season. Bagnaia (288 points) ending the 2025 term behind Gresini’s Alex Marquez (467), Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi (353) and KTM’s Pedro Acosta (307) was their final straw.
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