Carlo Pernat thinks Francesco Bagnaia’s body language shows he no longer feels at ‘home’ at Ducati

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Carlo Pernat says Francesco Bagnaia’s body language is a clear sign that he no longer feels at “home” at Ducati, and that the Italian is simply waiting to join Aprilia in 2027.

It is an open secret in the MotoGP paddock that Bagnaia and Ducati are currently embarking on a rather awkward farewell tour that neither can currently confirm. It is also widely known that Aprilia are to sign Bagnaia, after Jorge Martin struck a deal to move to Yamaha for 2027.

MotoGP teams have a secret agreement that they will not reveal their rider line-ups for next year until they secure a new collective commercial agreement. Although, it is now being said that a deal is close to being finalised, which will spark a raft of rider market announcements.

Francesco Bagnaia’s body language at Balaton Park shows he cannot wait to leave Ducati

Bagnaia is expected to join Aprilia from 2027 on a four-year contract, which will carry break clauses for after 2028, as the Noale outfit sought an all-Italian line-up on the back of Martin signing with Yamaha for 2027. Marco Bezzecchi is under contract with Aprilia through 2028.

READ MORE: The best moments of Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP career

Pernat believes Bagnaia is already counting down the days until his switch, having paid close attention to the Italian’s body language at Balaton Park last weekend. Despite Bagnaia taking P3 in the Hungarian GP for his third podium in a row, Pernat thinks the 29-year-old displayed clear signs that he no longer feels at “home” at Ducati and just wants this season to be over.

“A podium that Bagnaia just stumbled upon,” Pernat told GPOne. “In fact, he even said so in the press conference, ‘I don’t know why I’m here’. It’s very honest of him to say that.

“Pecco is waiting to settle the score with Ducati. It’s no longer his home. You can see it in how he looks, in how he carries himself.”

Pecco Bagnaia admitted that the Hungarian GP win was ‘not my fight’ after finishing P3

Bagnaia and Pernat felt he was somewhat fortunate to finish P3 in the Hungarian Grand Prix as he profited from the riders who got caught in the Turn 1 crash that Martin caused. Martin wiped out himself, Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Raul Fernandez and Fermin Aldeguer.

Ducati chief Luigi Dall’Igna feels Bagnaia’s slow start in the Hungarian GP also prevented him from being caught in the incident, as the Turin native fell behind Bezzecchi and Fernandez at the start. Martin was sat alongside Bagnaia when he lost control of his Aprilia under braking.

A bit of wheelspin off the grid caused Bagnaia to have a slight wheelie, which he also noted after the Hungarian GP was rather lucky given Martin’s crash moments after. But achieving anything more than P3 was “not my fight”, as Bagnaia finished 11.632s adrift as teammate Marc Marquez beat Pedro Acosta to win the Hungarian GP by just 1.343s after a tight duel.

“I still don’t know what I’m doing here,” Bagnaia said about his podium at Balaton Park, via Paddock-GP. “Fortunately, I made a bit of a mistake at the beginning.

“It wasn’t a good start and when I started to brake, I was already slightly behind. I saw that Martin couldn’t stop and at the first turn, he crashed with everyone else. At that point, I lost two places, but I made up for it in the second corner and found myself in third.

“I tried to keep up with the first two. But after five or six laps, I realised that I had no chance. They had a different rhythm, and I realised that that was not my fight.”