Pecco Bagnaia backtracks on Austria MotoGP outburst: ‘No problems with Ducati’

Double MotoGP world champion Pecco Bagnaia has backtracked on his “running out of patience” comments after the Austrian Grand Prix and claims there are “no problems at all” with Ducati.

The Italian was expected to turn around his difficult 2025 campaign last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, having won the previous three editions of the Austrian Grand Prix.

But after a strong start to the weekend, he slumped to a distant eighth in the grand prix and was over 12 seconds off of race-winning team-mate Marc Marquez.

Afterwards, Pecco Bagnaia told various media outlets that he was “running out of patience” for Ducati to find a fix to his issues on the GP25.

These words followed Ducati general manager labelling Bagnaia’s Austrian Grand Prix as “underwhelming”, adding that “every race that passes is a wasted opportunity to improve”.

Bagnaia has expressed frustrations already this season, but the aftermath of the Austrian Grand Prix was the first time there appeared to be rising tensions between himself and Ducati.

But, on the eve of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Bagnaia has backtracked on his comments and says they were uttered in the heat of the moment after a “disaster race”.

“My problem, my fault, is to always be very transparent speaking with everybody,” he said.

“And sometimes it’s better, but sometimes not.

“And when you finish a race, a disaster race, like it was in Austria, nervous and angry, you arrive here to speak to all of the journalists asking ‘what is wrong with you’, you lose more patience.

“And sometimes you make wrong declarations. So, no problems at all with the team.

“I spoke with everybody. We are all in the same boat, trying to figure out the situation. It’s not easy also for them, especially for them, who are trying to give to me what I need.

“But after seven months from the start of the season that I’m struggling always for the same things, we just need to change something.

“I don’t know what, but it’s clear that I’m always slower than last year - everybody is slower compared to the lap times we were doing last year.

“So, we need to understand why - Ducati, I mean - and understand what to do.”

He added: “I think that for me was the worst scenario this season.

“I was always super competitive [in Austria], maybe the one I was most competitive, in terms of wins and the gap.

“And this season not being able to fight and finishing eighth, seeing all the bikes overtaking me in a very easy way, it was a bit strange and we are just thinking about it from the morning, understanding what happened and try something different.”

“Scenario has changed” for Pecco Bagnaia’s results expectations

With seemingly no end in sight for Bagnaia’s current struggles, he admits his expectations for a result at Balaton Park this weekend have to change.

Asked if a new venue provides an opportunity to fight for a podium, he said: “Will be important to fight for it.

“I know right now we are fighting for top five and we just have to accept it.

“Scenarios have changed compared to last year, but let’s try to do a fantastic job, fantastic work, and see if we can fight for the top five.”