Francesco Bagnaia revealed it is “difficult to explain” his 2025 struggles after a disappointing Austrian MotoGP weekend.
Bagnaia qualified on the front row after a strong start to the weekend, but failed to finish the Sprint race after a faulty rear tyre, before finishing eighth in the main race on Sunday.
While Bagnaia admitted podium finishers Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi “did everything better” during the race, the Italian was unable to provide an answer as to why he was 12 seconds slower than last year’s race time.
“What has been happening all year has happened again,” the double World Champion told DAZN.
“I fight and give it my all. But this time, giving it my all, I finished eighth. The winner did it in the same time it took me to win last year. So I have the potential.
“I don’t know why things aren’t working out for me. Marco [Bezzecchi] and Marc [Marquez] did everything better than me.
“That I finished 12 seconds behind on a circuit where I always made a difference is something I don’t understand, and will never understand.”
Bagnaia’s eighth place means he is now 197 points behind team-mate Marquez in the championship, and 55 points adrift of Alex Marquez for second place.
Following another disappointing Sunday, the Italian demanded that Ducati “explain” the cause of his issues as he is “running out of patience” with his current form.
“I’m always focused, I’ve never lost my head, but today I couldn’t accelerate; everyone was overtaking me coming out of the corners.
“I hope Ducati explains it to me, because I’m running out of patience.”
Gigi Dall’Igna bemoans ‘wasted opportunity’ for Bagnaia at Austrian MotoGP round
Bagnaia may not be the only figure inside Ducati to be losing his patience, with Ducati General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna publicly showing disappointment with the Turin native for the first time.
The Italian engineer bemoaned a “wasted opportunity” for Bagnaia to take a step forward after his struggles aboard the GP25 this season.
Dall’Igna also vowed Ducati would look into the issues the two-time World Champion suffered on Saturday, but labelled Bagnaia’s performance in the main race as “underwhelming.”
“Every race that passes is a wasted opportunity to improve,” Dall’Igna said to Sky Italia.
“He had a good weekend during all the practice sessions. Yesterday, he had a problem that we have to analyse, but his race was definitely underwhelming today.”
Discussion about this post