Francesco Bagnaia has revealed that he apologised to his Ducati MotoGP team at the Dutch Grand Prix and committed to changing his approach after early-season struggles with the 2025-spec Desmosedici GP25.
The reigning double world champion has been chasing front-end confidence on the new bike, experimenting with various settings throughout the first half of the year. However, at Assen, Bagnaia told his engineers he wants to align more with the team’s direction and focus on doing more laps rather than overcomplicating issues.
“I had a small meeting with my team, with the engineers, and I have only apologised because I want to change,” Bagnaia explained. “I want to go more in the direction of the team… and be more prepared for the races.”
Bagnaia admitted that his tendency to detect problems early in a session without completing enough laps may have been counterproductive. “It will be difficult for me, but I will try to do more laps, even if it is going slower sometimes,” he said.
The Italian endured another frustrating Sprint at Assen, dropping from second on the grid to finish fifth. However, he recovered in the Sunday race, regaining ground after being overtaken early to finish third behind Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi.
“I always do the same thing: I start, everyone overtakes me and I have to watch them the whole race,” Bagnaia said of his Sprint struggles. “I can’t attack, I can’t do anything… but it’s completely my problem.”
Bagnaia admitted he’s still searching for a way to adapt to the full-tank behaviour of the GP25 at the start of races, particularly in sprints. With the summer break approaching, he hopes this self-awareness leads to a stronger second half of the season.
