Ducati boss insists Pecco Bagnaia must "have the right attitude”

Ducati MotoGP team boss Davide Tardozzi says Pecco Bagnaia deserves better than his Austrian Grand Prix but has urged him “to have the right attitude” to be helped.

The double world champion endured what he termed a “disaster” grand prix in Austria last weekend, as he slumped from the front row to 12 seconds off the win in eighth.

Compounding Pecco Bagnaia’s woes was the fact his race time in Austria was 12 seconds slower than what he did to win at the Red Bull Ring last year.

Marc Marquez’s race-winning time last weekend, too, was only just under two tenths faster than Bagnaia’s from 2024.

After the Austrian Grand Prix, Bagnaia told the media his patience was being tested by the struggles he has faced this year on the GP25 - though he backtracked on these comments on Thursday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Tardozzi has backed Bagnaia, noting that his Austria result ‘is not the place he deserves’, but that Ducati also has to “manage his brain” while helping him to adapt to the GP25.

“We had a lot of meetings with the engineers,” Tardozzi told the MotoGP world feed on Friday morning.

“Gigi [Dall’Igna] and the engineers had a lot of meetings during those days to analyse why it happens because it’s not the place that Pecco deserves for his talent and his capability.

“So, we’ll see. We think we can make a step ahead here in Hungary. This morning he has to ride a few new parts, but we’ll see what he can do.”

He added: “In the end we have to manage his brain because we have problems on the bike, which means the bike doesn’t suit his riding style at this moment and his confidence.

“But in the end we have to understand why and we hope Pecco will have the right attitude to let his proceed ahead.”

Of the three GP25s on the grid, only Marc Marquez is finding any kind of success on it.

But Tardozzi doesn’t believe that means the bike is fundamentally worse than last year’s model.

“In some way, for those two riders [Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio], yes, while we are leading the championship with the 2025,” he said.

“So, we think the bike is good but probably doesn’t suit perfectly the riding style of the two Italians. We’ll see because we are confident we will find the way.”