- Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali said that he hopes Francesco Bagnaia can close their partnership with a good result in Qatar, Portimao or Valencia, per Crash.net.
- Bagnaia finished 13th at Sepang on Sunday, November 1, and his final lap of 2m05.1s was slower than the Moto2 class.
- Bagnaia says the change that let him ride again at Motegi in 2025 no longer exists, and Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi says he has no idea what the rider means.
A Farewell Wish Meets a One-Word Forecast
Two men at the same company described the same three races, and they could not have sounded further apart.
Claudio Domenicali, the CEO of Ducati, spoke about a rider he is fond of and a result he wants. “I hope we can get a good result in Qatar, or in Portimao or Valencia. It would certainly be the best way to put the finishing touch on this wonderful story, which has given him and us two world titles.”
Francesco Bagnaia, the rider in question, was asked after the Malaysian Grand Prix what he could expect from the last three rounds of the season. His reply was a single word: “surviving”.
That word came from a man who has spent his entire premier-class career at Ducati. Eight seasons there have brought two world championships and 31 wins. He is also leaving. He will race for Aprilia from 2027, and KTM’s Pedro Acosta will take his seat at Ducati.
The Last Lap at Sepang
Sepang was supposed to be the exception. Bagnaia had marked the Malaysian circuit as his best chance of a big result before he left the Borgo Panigale factory. A year earlier he had taken pole position there and won the sprint, then fought for the grand prix win until a puncture ended the run.
This year went the other way. He qualified 10th and smashed his windscreen in frustration. On Sunday he finished 13th, 32.9 seconds behind winner and Ducati teammate Marc Marquez, and at one stage he slipped outside the points.
His explanation was short. “It looked exactly like I was expecting, no more no less,” he admitted. “On Saturday, I was just lucky that it started to rain. But on Sunday, I saw that my limit was the grip. I tried to manage it.”
“Even managing it, after five laps I was without the rear tyre and I needed to start thinking about just finishing the race. The last lap I did was 2m05.1s. For me it’s something unbelievable, considering what I know that I can do here, that is what it is.”
“It’s like this and we need to accept it. Three to go and try to do the maximum.”
The numbers back up the word he chose. His final lap, a 2m05.143s, was more than four and a half seconds slower than his own best earlier in the race, two seconds slower than Marquez, who had backed off while celebrating his seventh grand prix win of the season, and slower than the Moto2 class. Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli, riding the same make of bike, were lapping in the 2m02s bracket in the closing stages. Fabio di Giannantonio was in the mid 2m03s.
Asked how hard it was to reach the finish on worn tires, Bagnaia gave an answer that said more about the afternoon than any lap chart. “It was dead easy, because I wasn’t able to do any push lap. It was like doing an easy run.”
To Sky Italia he added a detail about the end of the race. “At the end of the race, I couldn’t even touch the right-hand turns with my knee”.
Asked whether he was counting the days to the end of the year, he replied: “[Yes, but] not just from this moment.”
The struggle started well before Malaysia. Earlier in the weekend he had already complained about eight tenths lost in two Sepang sectors.
The Fix That Disappeared
After the flag, Bagnaia said a change had once let him ride again, and that the change was gone.
He pointed to Motegi in 2025, the scene of a shock double victory, and to a change that came before it.
“The problem [now] isn’t from the setup, and it’s not from an electronics calibration, so adding or taking power away, even if you make big changes, doesn’t solve anything.”
“We’ve been doing it all year, and the problem has always remained the same.”
“Last year it was the same.”
“At the Misano test and [then] at the race in Japan, something other than simple calibrations and setup had been changed, and that change had allowed me to ride again.”
“Now, unfortunately, that thing evidently doesn’t exist, just as it hasn’t existed since the race after Japan last year.”
Pressed on why that change no longer exists, he gave a reply that closed the door on details. “It doesn’t exist, let’s not go into details.”
Ducati answered through Davide Tardozzi, the team manager. Asked about Bagnaia’s comments, Tardozzi said: “Honestly, I have no idea what he’s referring to. We’ve done everything we could, but unfortunately we haven’t yet found what he needs.”
Two accounts now sit side by side. Bagnaia describes something specific that let him ride again and that he says is gone. The team says it has tried everything and cannot identify the item he means. Neither side has named a cause for the grip problem. Bagnaia’s description of the bike is his own view, and Tardozzi’s reply is the team’s.
From Four Straight Podiums to Ninth
The slide has a clear shape. Bagnaia has dealt with grip issues from the start of the year, and the first half of the season still produced headline results: four consecutive Sunday podiums and a sprint win at Brno.
After the summer break the results fell away. The last eight rounds have given him a pair of sixth-place sprint finishes as his best results, and he has not stood on the podium in the races after the break. His last grand prix win came at Motegi in 2025, more than a year ago. Ahead of Qatar he is ninth in the standings.
The exit was settled in the middle of that first half. Aprilia made the move official on June 25, a four-year contract that runs through the 2030 season and puts him in the seat Jorge Martin holds. His reasons for choosing Aprilia have their own story. The man whose 2022 title made him Ducati’s first MotoGP champion after Casey Stoner now holds a contract with the rival that runs to 2030 and a Ducati season that has not gone his way.
What Ducati’s CEO Says
Domenicali’s comments come from a company that has not solved a problem and says so. He opened with praise for the rider.
“I still think Pecco lacks nothing, neither talent nor relationship with the team, and we haven’t been able to find the key to this mess that’s gotten a bit stuck,” he said.
The CEO went on to name the years he prefers to recall. “I like to remember the Pecco of 2022 and 2023, but also the 11 races he won in 2024. He’s a guy I’m extremely fond of.”
He then added: “Sometimes, though, things are like that and you get stuck.”
He finished with a promise of effort from the whole building. “We’ll see, we’re all here together to try and give our best.”
The relationship has already drawn outside commentary. Valentino Rossi compared Bagnaia and Ducati to a failing marriage. Domenicali, speaking for the company, talked about talent, fondness and hope.
Three Rounds Left
The Qatar Grand Prix is this weekend, and Marquez has his first chance to clinch the 2026 title there. The factory team could celebrate a championship with Marquez while Bagnaia works toward the end of his time there.
Portimao and Valencia follow. No result for any of the three rounds exists yet. Bagnaia has said the plan is to try to do the maximum.
Domenicali wants a good result to sit beside the 31 wins and two titles. Bagnaia expects to survive. The final three weekends will show which of those two views is closer to the truth, and whether the farewell ends with a trophy or with two sides still trying to understand each other.
