Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is optimistic that Francesco Bagnaia will ‘come back’ in 2026. Bagnaia was largely a non-factor in Marquez’s 2025 season.
There is a litany of damning statistics, but perhaps the worst of all is that Bagnaia finished 257 points behind Marquez even though the world champion missed the last four races through injury.
Accounting for both Grands Prix and Sprints, Marquez was responsible for 25 of 29 Ducati’s wins, or 86.2%.
Francesco Bagnaia failed to score points in 18 of his 44 races in 2025.
But in interview clips from MotoGP’s documentary ‘All on Red‘, Marquez predicted that 2022 and 2023 world champion Bagnaia would be able to reset in the months of December and January.
Marc Marquez says Francesco Bagnaia was too sensitive to ‘all the movements’ on the Ducati
While Ducati were at a loss to explain Bagnaia’s dramatic regression, Marquez laid out a simple reason. Losing confidence can be a self-perpetuating problem.
Bagnaia began overreacting to ‘all the movements’ of Ducati’s GP25. That caused him to stiffen up, rather than riding naturally.
The 28-year-old retired from nine races last year, which ranked him fourth on the grid behind Joan Mir (18), Johann Zarco (12) and Jack Miller (10).
Francesco Bagnaia will finish … in the MotoGP championship in 2026
“The problem is that, when you start to lose confidence, you go in a mood where you start to lose more confidence, then you start to feel all the movements of the bike,” Marquez said. “You are riding stiffer than ever.
“I believe that Pecco will come back. He has the talent, he has the team. If we want the best for the project, we need both riders at the top.
He later added: “The speed of Pecco is there. Sometimes, only two months are enough to reset everything.”
What does Francesco Bagnaia think of Ducati’s 2026 bike after first test?
Bagnaia had a chance to sample the early version of Ducati’s GP26 test at the post-season event in Valencia. Marquez is back on a motorcycle but he’s still building up to MotoGP fitness.
Ducati manager Davide Tardozzi says Bagnaia ‘found his way’ again at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. A desperate year ended on a quietly optimistic note.
Bagnaia says Ducati have a ‘very good base’, one that allows him to push considerably harder. He was able to attack the corners and manage his rear tyre, two areas where he notably struggled in 2025.
Given that there were numerous false dawns for the 28-year-old last year, not least his perfect weekend in Motegi, more evidence is needed before the narrative can truly shift.
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