BAGNAIA SAYS HIS AUSTRIAN GP PRACTICE PACE IS HIS “REAL POTENTIAL”

Francesco Bagnaia admitted that his Austrian MotoGP practice showing at the Red Bull Ring—where he was 18th—matches his current “real potential”, as the Ducati rider continues to wrestle with the same fundamental issue that has been costing him time in recent rounds.

Coming into Austria after what he described as one of the worst weekends of his season so far in Misano, Bagnaia had struggled to get the results he expects from a track where he has previously been successful. Although he is a three-time MotoGP winner at the Red Bull Ring, Friday practice left him almost a second off the pace set by Pedro Acosta at the top of the times.

Bagnaia’s explanation for the gap was consistent with what he had already identified in Misano: a lack of rear grip. He linked that problem directly to multiple phases of the lap, saying, “Rear grip that affects the braking entry and acceleration, so more or less everything.” He added that it is the area his team is focusing on most, and that he and the Ducati Lenovo Team are working to improve it: “But it's the thing that we are focused on the most and try to improve.”

When asked whether Austria felt like an improvement compared with the previous week, Bagnaia’s answer was blunt. “Not really,” he said. “My feeling is the same, the issues are the same.” He acknowledged that he knows there is more performance available, but insisted that what he is seeing right now is the best he can extract until the grip problem is solved: “It's clear that I know that we can do much better, but right now the real potential is this one.”

Bagnaia’s comments also reflected a mindset of continued development rather than expecting an immediate turnaround. “So like I said, the potential is this one, and head down and try to improve a bit.” He reiterated the same theme when pressed further on what he feels compared to other riders, stating, “So I don't know, the riders that are in the front, what they are feeling.”

The Austrian round has also brought extra tyre discussion, with other riders pointing to the challenges of Michelin’s heat-dissipating rear tyre used at the Red Bull Ring. The tyre’s harder construction can make it slide more, and that effect is amplified by the circuit’s low-grip characteristics. Bagnaia, however, said his own sensations are not being altered in a meaningful way by the specific rear tyre specification or compound. “I don't really feel a difference between a normal tyre and these tyres, soft or medium – for me it's more or less the same,” he said.

He also suggested that, regardless of the tyre choice, his limiting factor remains the same. “But I'm sure, what I feel is that my real potential right now is this one and we just need to keep working and try to improve a little bit.”

While riders such as Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi have raised concerns about centre-tyre traction at Austria—making it harder to accelerate and also to stop the bike—Bagnaia’s focus stayed firmly on rear grip and the resulting braking and drive limitations. For now, his message from practice is clear: the performance ceiling he can access is low, but the team will keep pushing to find the missing traction and unlock more speed.