Marco Bezzecchi
Pol Espargaro feels Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati cost himself an automatic Q2 place at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, as he “gave up” after folding under his own pressure.
Bagnaia will have to take part in the first phase of qualifying for the third time this year, after only eight rounds. The 29-year-old finished Friday’s timed practice session at Balaton Park in 14th place, having only penned a 1:37.986 lap with a 1.159s deficit to KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
Acosta set the pace in practice at the Hungarian GP with a best time of 1:36.827, as the KTM ace dominated the field with a 0.413s margin over VR46 star Fabio Di Giannantonio in P2 on his Ducati GP26. Factory Ducati man Bagnaia only managed to record a lap time of 1:37.986.
Pedro Acosta set a dominant pace in practice at the Hungarian GP 😮💨 Who will join the top 10 for Q2?
Pol Espargaro thinks Francesco Bagnaia cracked under his own pressure at the Hungarian GP
Bagnaia largely struggled throughout both practice sessions this Friday, as he never seemed comfortable aboard his GP26 on the first day of action at the Hungarian GP. The Italian often looked unhappy with the handling of his bike in the chicanes and never showed much pace.
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Espargaro feels Bagnaia may have been able to string a quick lap together at the end of the day to clinch a Q2 place, though, had he not given up after making a mistake. The Spaniard thinks Bagnaia put himself under too much pressure to produce, and it led to a costly error.
“Pecco and Franco Morbidelli – who isn’t getting good results this season – but what Pecco did was surprising,” Espargaro said on DAZN, via quotes by Motosan.
“He was 20th with only the last time attack on the last tyre remaining. He was coming in quite fast, but he made that mistake in the last sector, which cost him around three or four tenths of a second, and then he gave up.
“I think if he had closed out this lap, he would have made it. But waiting until the last lap, when he was pushing hard, to make these kinds of mistakes shows that he’s not comfortable. Or at least that he’s at the absolute limit.
“Any small mistake or minor issue with the bike makes him lose that valuable time needed to get into Q2.”
Early contact for Toprak Razgatlioglu at the Hungarian GP 💥 Have you been surprised by his mistakes in MotoGP?
Bagnaia struggled for rear grip in practice at the Hungarian GP this Friday, which sparked his problematic sessions that eventually led to him ending the day without an automatic spot in Q2. He was even lucky to avoid a highside with the mistake in practice that Espargaro notes.
Despite fellow Ducati GP26 riders Di Giannantonio and factory teammate Marquez securing top-seven positions in practice, Bagnaia could not get the reaqr of his bike to behave how he wanted. It led to multiple moments under braking and through the chicanes that cost time.
The Hungarian GP now marks the third time that Bagnaia has to take part in Q1 this season already, following the Thailand GP and the Catalan GP. On both of those occasions, the two-time MotoGP champion did not get into Q2, and he qualified P13 in Buriram and Barcelona.
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