Marco Bezzecchi
Marco Melandri feels Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of second place during the 2026 French Grand Prix as he ignored the warnings from his Ducati last Sunday at Le Mans.
Bagnaia looked on course to secure his best result of the season so far in the French GP. But the two-time MotoGP champion instead recorded his third retirement of the term after just five rounds, which even now takes him to nine retirements through the past 12 Grands Prix.
The 29-year-old has only taken the chequered flag so far this term when he sealed P9 in the Thailand Grand Prix and P10 in the United States Grand Prix. Bagnaia crashed out of P11 in Brazil, retired whilst P9 in Spain and he hit the deck once more on Lap 16 of 27 at Le Mans.
Pecco Bagnaia suffers his EIGHTH retirement in his last TEN MotoGP races 😲 What is going wrong?
Marco Melandri feels Francesco Bagnaia’s Ducati GP26 warned him he would crash at Le Mans
Bagnaia was livid after crashing out of the French GP, and footage emerged after the race of the Italian kicking out as he left the circuit. The Ducati rider had shown he had the pace to at least fight for the podium last Sunday, but he lost the front end of his GP26 through Turn 3.
READ MORE: The best moments of Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP career
Former Ducati MotoGP rider Melandri believes Bagnaia’s pace during the French GP was still a big “positive”, as it proved that he can still be competitive. But Melandri feels watching the replays of Bagnaia’s crash suggests he ignored his bike warning him that the front could fold.
Melandri told GPOne: “The positive thing is that I saw him fast again. In my opinion, at Le Mans he simply pushed a bit too hard. If you look closely at the replay, before losing the front end, the bike had already given him two or three wobbles up front.
“But the important thing is that he’s going home knowing he’s still fast. And for a rider’s mindset, after a complicated year and a half like his, that’s fundamental.”
Francesco Bagnaia cited a brake problem for his crash during the French Grand Prix
Bagnaia crashed out of P2 on Lap 16/27 of the French GP as he tried to hold KTM star Pedro Acosta behind him. Aprilia racer Marco Bezzecchi was maintaining a lead of eight tenths of a second over Bagnaia for the lead of the French GP at the time of his Italian compatriot’s fall.
Without the crash, Bagnaia may have possibly taken his first Grand Prix podium finish since he won the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix last September. Bagnaia has lacked a feeling for the front end of the Ducati GP26 through most of 2026, but has started to show positive signs.
Bagnaia improved his feeling for the Ducati GP26 at the Jerez test after trying their new aero package, which he ran at the French GP. While Melandri feels Bagnaia crashed at Le Mans as he ignored the signs from his bike, the Italian also cited the same brake problem that made him retire from the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez as the cause of his race-ending fall in France.
“The crash was the result of a problem,” Bagnaia said, via quotes by GPOne. “The same one I had in Jerez.”
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