Pecco Bagnaia has recently been giving a long interview on Gianluca Gazzoli's BSMT podcast. Over more than two hours, the Ducati rider talked about everything, from the difficulties in 2025 to his relationship with Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, and much more. The rider from Piedmont didn't hold back.
He started with the recent difficult period.
"It was a very tough season because I had a lot of difficulties and we couldn't solve them," he explained. "In the end, we realized that it was a different bike setup that was causing me problems with my riding style. Probably, my mistake was convincing myself that my potential with the GP24 was at its peak, and I assumed it would be the same. Instead, the bike had changed, and I tried to make it resemble the 2024 without success. 2025 taught me to be more careful and to explain the problems better."
What was the worst moment?
"In my opinion, the Indonesian GP. I couldn't believe I was last and in such difficulty ,unable to ride the bike at all after having been so impressive in the previous race," he confessed. "That was a very complicated moment. Even puncturing in Malaysia made me feel that the year would be a disaster."
Pecco said he didn't lose his brearings.
"I tried in every session to make it work," he continued. "I was angry, but every time I started from scratch. When things go wrong, you have to know how to reset. I don't think I ever lost my head, even if some people said and thought so. More than anything else, it was mentally difficult because of the stress after four years in which I won or competed for the World Championship."
And when things go wrong, they often get worse.
"In situations like that, everyone wants to have their say, and that just makes things worse," he said. "I was no longer talking only to my crew chief and my electronics engineer, but to everyone. Instead of identifying and working on the biggest problem, they asked me a thousand questions, and I also put my team in a difficult position. When you're in trouble, you push the bike less to the limit, so it seems more stable. For example, to make the bike turn, I used the throttle a lot and wore out the rear tyre. You could see it in the data, but it seemed to be because I didn't have a good feeling for it, that I wasn't pushing it."
Staying on track, however, was not easy.
"I'm the one who puts the most pressure on myself," admitted the Italian. "I don't pay too much attention to other things. This is an extremely selfish sport; you have to think about yourself, and I've learned that over the years. So I only listen to the people I trust. My references are Vale, Carlo, and my team. Vale is always extremely present. We've had several lunches and dinners together, even one with Cristian (Gabarrini, his crew chief, ed.). Vale advised me to enjoy the results more. One of my mistakes was getting angry even for a third place finish."
Not to mention the media hype.
"In terms of media coverage, it's been bordering on madness lately. It's just a hunt for scandal and controversy," he pointed out ."Whatever you say will be twisted. I happened to read an interview with quotes I never said. I want to be transparent, but I have to limit myself. Sometimes I made the mistake of speaking in the heat of the moment. When they always ask you the same question, after a while you fall for it."
There were also conspiracy theorists who claimed that Bagnaia was being boycotted from within. "I had incredible support from the team. They had no reason to make things difficult for me. That would have been crazy," he clarified.
To make matters worse, Marquez was on fire.
"Marc has always shown that he knows how to adapt, but only up to a point, because he left Honda. He has a riding style that allows him to get the best out of a bike that pushes hard under braking, and he was very good. The GP25 was dominant with him, he won everything, while I was in extreme difficulty."
In these cases, your teammate can push you even further.
"I wanted to see it as a stimulus. He's Marc Marquez, he and Valentino are among the best riders in history," said Pecco. "You can only learn from someone like that. He's had some difficult years, he wanted to get back in the game, and in my opinion, it can only be a stimulus. When they told me he would be on the team, I said that was fine with me. I've never had any problems with my teammates. Marc is an intelligent person, and we had a good relationship right from the start. We often exchanged ideas. He even gave me some advice."
It wasn't a given, because Marquez and Rossi's history is well known.
"Being part of the Academy, you attract all of Vale's big fans and also his haters, who are fewer but louder," said Pecco. "I brought with me what happened in 2015, even though it's not fair. In my opinion, it could have been the same for Marquez. He's the one who had a spat with Vale, and I'm from the Academy."
On a possible reconciliation between the two, Bagnaia did not go out on a limb too much: "I don't think there's a need, that's how it was."
Finally, he expressed his opinion on Liberty Media's arrival in MotoGP.
"They managed to revolutionize F1, and I hope they'll do a great job. MotoGP has a more genuine identity, it's a top-level, adrenaline-fueled sport, but it's for everyone, and that DNA, in my opinion, shouldn't be touched," he explained. "An F1 weekend is a festival, the race is almost the icing on the cake, they've managed to create a party around it, while we only have the races, even if ours are better and more spectacular."