Francesco Bagnaia’s British MotoGP turned from promise to frustration after a red flag and a change in tyre left him struggling for grip—eventually leading to a crash at Turn 7.
The Ducati Lenovo Team rider had been running second behind Fabio Quartararo when the race was red-flagged due to Marc Marquez’s crash. At that point, Bagnaia said he was feeling confident with the bike and the rear tyre’s performance.
“My feeling was good,” Bagnaia said post-race. “I didn’t start perfectly, but once Marc crashed, I was right behind Fabio and pulling away from the others. The rear grip felt great.”
However, the restart changed everything. The team swapped the rear tyre for a fresh one, and Bagnaia immediately lost confidence and control.
“We just changed the rear tyre, and from that moment, nothing worked again,” he explained. “At Turn 7, I went to lean the bike, and the rear just let go—I crashed. It was already difficult, but with this problem, it got worse.”
Bagnaia said the issue was a mystery, but something felt fundamentally wrong:
“I don’t know why. The rear started spinning every time I leaned past 58 or 59 degrees. It was strange and unpredictable.”
He also praised Alex Marquez, who crashed out at Turn 1 in the original start but rejoined after the red flag to finish fifth.
“Honestly, Alex would’ve won the race easily without his crash. He was way faster than anyone else,” Bagnaia noted. “But crashing meant he had to switch to the second bike, and that doesn’t help with confidence.”
Interestingly, Bagnaia revealed that Marc Marquez had been masking a problem Ducati riders were facing all weekend. While Bagnaia and others struggled with front-end feeling, Marquez’s strong performance kept the issue from being fully exposed.
“Marc was hiding the problem we had all weekend,” Bagnaia said. “He did a fantastic job, but if Fabio hadn’t retired in the second race, this would’ve been the first time in a long while a Ducati didn’t make the podium.”
He ended with a call for urgency:
“Other teams are improving, and we’re stuck—or maybe even getting worse. I know my team is working hard to find a solution, but we must take a step forward.”
