Francesco Bagnaia: “I’ll try to steal some of Marc’s secrets!” as he stays “calm” over 2027 MotoGP contract

Francesco Bagnaia says the winter break has given him time to reflect on a “tough” 2025 MotoGP campaign.

A year ago, the double MotoGP champion was being tipped as the pre-season favourite by new team-mate Marc Marquez.

Instead, Marquez went on to dominate, while Bagnaia was left frustrated by a lack of front-end feeling on his Ducati GP25.

There were flashes of his old form, including four race wins, and some misfortune along the way, but Bagnaia and Ducati were never able to identify a consistent solution to his handling issues.

Speaking during Monday’s team launch in Madonna di Campiglio, Francesco Bagnaia, who faded to fifth in the world championship, said:

“Last year was tough, not just for me, also for the team, because it was difficult to understand and to see clearly the situation. So many times, we had good potential, but we didn't reach the result.

“Other times we had some bad luck, like the puncture in Malaysia. Other times I was struggling a lot to find my feeling, to find the performance.

“But in any case, I think with calmness and with the work we did this winter, we can try to adapt and improve from these situations.

“Normally in those difficult moments you can learn a lot of things and it's what I try to do.”

Bagnaia added that he has the perfect “reference” in reigning champion Marquez.

“The winter has been great. I had time to reflect… Luckily, I have a good reference in the garage, so I can be close to him and try to steal some secrets!”

Asked by MotoGP.com for the biggest lesson learned from last season, Bagnaia replied:

“Sometimes it's just better to enjoy the moments and not think on the wrong things.”

Looking ahead, the Italian - who will train on a Superbike in Indonesia before the opening Sepang test on February 3–5 - said he’ll be happy if he ends the 2026 season having had “a nice battle with the reference that I think will be Marc. 

“Many riders are fast, so it will be important to be competitive from the start, fight with them and try to regain what I lost last year.

“The tests will be super important. This season I will try to do more laps, think more about the performance.

“Luckily, this season there are fewer new things [on the bike] than in the past, because it's the last year of these technical regulations. It will be important to find a good base, a good performance and try to have it all the season.”

Bagnaia’s current contract, like most of the grid, expires at the end of this season.

“Honestly, I'm quite calm about it,” he said. “I just want to think about this season because I know that it will be a big regulation change [to 850cc for 2027].

“Many riders finish their contracts, so it will be important to have a good mentality on the championship, and then I'm quite calm about what will be next year.”

The 2026 campaign will be Bagnaia’s sixth season with Ducati’s factory MotoGP team, after beginning his premier-class career with the Pramac satellite squad.