DOVIZIOSO QUESTIONS BAGNAIA’S SUDDEN QATAR TURNAROUND

Andrea Dovizioso says Francesco Bagnaia’s dramatic change of form at the Qatar Grand Prix raises questions about what is happening at Ducati, after the Italian struggled badly in Malaysia.

Bagnaia has endured a difficult 2026 campaign, sitting ninth in the championship with four podiums. He has repeatedly said he lacks feeling from his Ducati GP26, and described Malaysia as his last “concrete” opportunity to deliver. Instead, he finished 13th, nearly 33 seconds behind race winner and teammate Marc Marquez.

A week later in Qatar, Bagnaia was back among the front-runners. He qualified fifth, half a second behind pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi and three tenths behind Marquez. Bagnaia said the Lusail circuit’s similarities to Brno had led him to expect an improvement, and that he felt like a factory rider again.

Dovizioso, speaking on his YouTube channel, said the scale of the turnaround was difficult to explain. “The gap between races where you have absolutely zero feel, finishing 40 seconds back, and races where you can reach the podium is just too vast. It’s a huge discrepancy,” he said. Bagnaia’s explanation about the track did not settle his concerns: “Yeah, but the performance gap is just too big. I don’t get that part.”

Asked whether the problem was technical or psychological, Dovizioso said he believed both played a role. If Bagnaia is uncomfortable on the bike, he argued, it is natural that his performance suffers and the gap grows. But he added that he would not expect a rider of Bagnaia’s calibre to go from being so far off the pace to fighting for a podium in the space of one race.

Dovizioso said the issue had been discussed for two years, with Bagnaia trying to explain his difficulties while Ducati’s responses appeared to contradict him. “It’s a really, really, really bad situation,” he said, adding that there was “clearly something else going on behind the scenes.”

Bagnaia could not capitalise on his Qatar pace. In the Sprint, Fermin Aldeguer attempted to pass Pedro Acosta at Turn 16, ran wide under braking and struck the rear of Bagnaia’s Ducati. The resulting highside left Bagnaia with fractures in his foot and ruled him out of the Grand Prix.

He has since undergone successful surgery, but his return date remains uncertain. Ducati general manager Luigi Dall’Igna said the team does not yet know whether Bagnaia will be fit for Portimao or Valencia.