Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia faces a pivotal season at Ducati in the upcoming MotoGP campaign, and the two-time premier class world champion has some fiery words for his critics from last year.
During a season that was very much overshadowed by the title-winning form that Marc Marquez showcased, Francesco Bagnaia experienced the most difficult 12 months of his Ducati career.
Team boss Davide Tardozzi believes Bagnaia has now ‘realised’ why he fell behind Marquez so much, which certainly bodes well for his chances of being able to reclaim his spot as the lead rider for the Italian constructor in the upcoming term.
It’s also a big development in the grand scheme of his struggles. One of the leading factors in why it was a season marred by woes is down to the fact that Bagnaia’s issues puzzled Ducati engineers.
- READ MORE: Davide Tardozzi wishes Ducati critics could see what Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia did at team meal
Did Francesco Bagnaia receive an unfair amount of criticism last season?
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Francesco Bagnaia addresses the ‘unnecessary’ criticism he received last year
During an interview with select media, including Motorsport.com, at Ducati’s 2026 MotoGP launch event, Bagnaia addressed the criticism he received during the height of his struggles at the Italian constructor last year.
The two-time MotoGP world champion had some fiery words for his critics when asked how the comments affected him at the time.
He said, “It depended on who the criticism came from, because 90% of it was unnecessary.
“In the end, I dealt with it as it needed to be dealt with: when criticism is constructive, it’s right to accept it, listen to it, and try to assimilate it. When criticism is pointless, there’s no point in even considering it.”
The struggles that #63 experienced during his fifth year at Borgo Panigale were one of the biggest narratives of the previous campaign.
The GP25 was identified as the biggest issue for Bagnaia relatively early on, but a resolution that could solve his problems just never seemed to arrive.
A turning point was believed to have come at the race weekend of the Japanese Grand Prix, where the 29-year-old achieved perfect results, but his poor form was quickly reinstated during the ensuing races.
- READ MORE: Davide Tardozzi says Ducati haven’t opened talks with Francesco Bagnaia over new MotoGP deal
Francesco Bagnaia is adamant that his issues weren’t the result of Ducati favouring Marc Marquez
A speculative explanation for Bagnaia’s poor performance against the high-flying Marquez was based on the assumption that Borgo Panigale were favouring the Spaniard during their development efforts.
Bagnaia debunked the claims of favouritism in a recent interview and reiterated his stance during the Italian constructor’s annual reveal last Monday.
He said, “Ducati allows you to approach the season in two different directions if necessary, as we also did last year: in the end, the bike was similar, but some details were not the same.
“Therefore, Ducati has always been far ahead in this respect and has always allowed riders to choose their own equipment.”
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