Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia has been struggling at Ducati since Marc Marquez became his teammate in 2025. Neil Hodgson says he has been ‘mentally destroyed’, and he has not recovered.
Last year was a disastrous year for the Italian. He finished fifth in the standings, failing to finish five of the last six races. He found no feeling from the GP25, while Marquez won the championship with five races to spare.
Valentino Rossi felt Marquez affected Bagnaia ‘psychologically’ as he adapted seamlessly to the bike and left his teammate behind. Bagnaia rubbished Rossi’s claim, but in 2026, Hodgson does not think he has recovered.
Neil Hodgson says Francesco Bagnaia has been ‘mentally destroyed’ by Marc Marquez
It has been a difficult start to the 2026 season for Bagnaia, retiring from three of the first five races. It has not been much better for Marquez, though, as he is still without a Grand Prix podium and he missed the French and Catalan GPs through injury.
Bagnaia admitted Ducati need Marquez after his crash at Le Mans, as his podiumless streak extended to 10 races after Le Mans. Fortunately, that has ended with back-to-back P3 finishes in Catalunya and Mugello.
But the Italian Grand Prix still exposed weaknesses for the Italian. Bagnaia was outqualified by Marquez on the Spaniard’s first weekend back in MotoGP and was beaten by him in the Sprint.
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During the Grand Prix, Hodgson noticed how Bagnaia was struggling to pass his rivals on track. He noted how he was ‘mentally destroyed’ by Marquez in 2025 and has not really recovered.
He said on TNT Sports: “The mental aspect of having Marc Marquez as your teammate, Marc winning all the races, absolutely cake-walking the championship, mentally destroyed Pecco Bagnaia.
“And this year, we hoped, we saw in pre-season a faster Pecco Bagnaia, but just when the pressure’s on, like you see, if he doesn’t get a start, if he’s in that group, for whatever reason, he just can’t figure out how to pass people.
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“I don’t know if it’s from tyre temperature, we talk about that a lot. And that’s what we talk about, riders always trying to get to the front early on in races to keep that front tyre pressure as low as possible.”
Bagnaia took the lead of the race on lap three and was showing strong pace against the Aprilias. But his GP26 could not hold on, as Bezzecchi won from Jorge Martin in an Aprilia one-two.
Bagnaia held on for third, narrowly beating Ai Ogura across the line. With back-to-back podiums, things are looking much brighter for the Italian.
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