Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia has hit out at the MotoGP media over their constant ‘hunt for scandal’. Bagnaia has arguably faced more criticism than any other rider in recent times.
A two-time MotoGP world champion, Bagnaia lost his way at Ducati in 2025. He failed to score a point in 18 of the year’s 44 races, suffering nine DNFs in total.
Inevitably, this prompted an external investigation into the root causes, as well as speculation about his relationship with the team and his future at Borgo Panigale.
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Francesco Bagnaia says MotoGP media have descended into ‘madness’
Speaking on ‘The BSMT‘ podcast recently, Bagnaia said his preference is to be totally ‘transparent’ in the media, but he has now realised that this approach is dangerous.
The Italian has accused the press of ‘twisting’ his words in order to generate ‘controversy’. He also defended his occasional frustration behind the microphone, pointing out that he has to answer the same questions countless times.
The riders are contractually obliged to speak to selected TV networks from around the world as well as the written media.
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“In my opinion, unfortunately, we’re bordering on madness on a media level lately,” said Bagnaia. “It’s just a hunt for scandal, controversy, constantly. Whatever you say, it will be twisted any way they want.
“I would like to be extremely transparent but I have to limit myself. The times I’ve been transparent, I was food for journalists and I was wrong. There were times when I was maybe wrong to go too often straight away to do the interviews after.
“There are 10, 12 television channels, you go to the media scrum and there are 15 journalists, everyone asks you the same question. The first answer you are more diplomatic, you get to the second answer where you are a little less diplomatic, you get to the end where you really let off steam.”
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Bagnaia acknowledges that he isn’t completely blameless in generating some of the damaging headlines. At times, he has regretted visiting the media pen so quickly rather than taking time to gather his thoughts.
One of the most eye-catching Bagnaia quotes last year came after the Austrian GP, where he finished a disappointing eighth. The #63 said he was ‘running out of patience’ with his team.
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“That was one of the times I made a mistake,” he reflected. “Then that stuff goes around the world.”
At a fundamental level, Bagnaia considered his 2025 problems to be mechanical, while Ducati seemed to conclude that their rider lost confidence.
In the coming weeks, they are expected to announce that their long-serving star is joining Aprilia next season, with Pedro Acosta replacing him.
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