Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali says Francesco Bagnaia was ‘unfortunate’ to start the MotoGP season with two unfavourable races.
Two-time world champion Bagnaia has struggled to match the pace of new teammate Marc Marquez and is yet to win a race this campaign.
The Italian currently sits third in the standings behind the Spanish rider and his brother Alex Marquez and failed to score a podium last time out in Argentina despite the dominance of his teammate’s Desmosedici machinery.
However, Domenicali is not ruling Bagnaia out of contention for the title just yet, suggesting MotoGP will “see a different championship” when the grid heads to the Lusail circuit in Qatar.
“I think Pecco started with two races that weren’t the most favourable for him,” Domenicali stated to GPOne.
“He finished the winter tests with some problems that weren’t his fault, so we’re not seeing his true potential yet.
“I’m convinced we’ll see it, starting with the next few races – although, perhaps not in Austin, which is a particularly well-suited circuit for Marc.
“But I think we’ll see a different championship from Qatar.”
‘Ducati signed Marquez for MotoGP performance’ – Claudio Domenicali
Domenicali also revealed at a Ducati launch event that the factory team had to strongly consider the advantages of signing Marquez.
The eight-time world champion was chosen to ride for the Bologna-based factory over world champion Jorge Martin despite Domenicali commenting last year Ducati didn’t need Marquez to win.
The Italian subsequently revealed his performance level aboard the GP23 at Gresini was what gave him the edge over Martin and that he is proving the decision to be the correct one with his perfect record in 2025.
“If we now have Marc [Marquez] with us, it’s because we made a choice that was carefully assessed,” Domenicali said.
“We did it also thinking about the overall performance we could achieve. Last year, his performance was a great reference.
“We made our observations and thought it was a good choice.”
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