Pecco Bagnaia has lost his patience: another scathing outburst
Pecco Bagnaia has no intention of hiding his disappointment after yet another difficult day in a season to forget. After posting the twelfth-fastest time in pre-qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the Piedmontese rider admitted in no uncertain terms that he’s grown tired of not finding any feel for the Ducati Desmosedici GP26—a situation that, among other things, will force him once again to go through Q1.
“I didn’t expect to struggle this much; it’s an unacceptable situation,” Bagnaia thundered to Sky Sport, emphasizing that his feelings about the bike at Sepang are entirely negative. The two-time premier-class world champion identified the track’s most technical sectors as the main weak point: “In sectors two and three, I’m losing as much as eight-tenths; it’s impossible to have confidence like this.”
The problem, according to the Turin native, is always the same: the difficulty in maintaining speed through the middle of the corner. “The bike closes up in front of me and I run wide,” he summarized, highlighting a technical issue that has plagued him for months now and that, race after race, seems to be getting harder and harder to resolve.
After the encouraging results from the winter tests, Bagnaia had expected to take a decisive step forward compared to the difficult 2025 season. Instead, the 2026 season has turned out to be even more complicated. The only bright spots came between May and June, when the Ducati rider managed to secure four consecutive third-place finishes in Catalonia, Mugello, Balaton, and Brno, highlighted by his victory in the Czech Sprint race.
Since then, however, his results have once again been extremely disappointing: across Grand Prix and Sprint races, his best finish since Brno remains sixth place, achieved at the German Grand Prix and the Austrian Sprint. These numbers illustrate Bagnaia’s struggles better than any standings, as he finds himself increasingly distant from the positions that matter in this final phase of his career riding a Ducati, ahead of his move to Aprilia scheduled for next season.
