Francesco Bagnaia: I have potential to make Marc Marquez’s life harder in 2026

Francesco Bagnaia says the winter break has allowed him to perform a “complete reset”, as he targets a renewed title challenge against Marc Marquez in MotoGP this year.

Bagnaia’s difficult 2025 campaign was one of the major talking points of the season, with the three-time world champion even struggling to finish inside the points or qualify within the top 12 on several occasions.

His results were thrown into sharper focus by new Ducati team-mate Marquez, who dominated on the GP25 and wrapped up the championship with five rounds remaining.

Speaking at Ducati’s season launch on Monday, Bagnaia appeared visibly refreshed, explaining why he thinks he has the potential to take the fight to MotoGP's in-form man in 2026.

“I just had a holiday with my wife to completely reset. Then we started quite soon to work again in the gym and analyse things,” the 29-year-old told media including Motorsport.com.

“I think [the break] was super useful, I tried to disconnect more compared to the past, and to have more time to think about myself, on what to do.

“Last year was tricky for me in many situations. Maybe I wasn't used to struggling that much, so it was important to rewatch everything and try to understand what the ‘reference’ was doing better. 

“Marc was doing better in some situations while in quali I was still struggling, so I try to analyse things better and see if I can understand something.”

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Luigi Dall'Igna, Ducati Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

Pressed further on what he would like to achieve in life, both on- and off-track, he added: “I'm already super lucky in life, so continue enjoying.

“At this moment, I just would like to fight in the championship more, not like last year. I put the potential to make Marc’s life more hard, not like last year. 

“But in life I'm already super lucky, so I have nothing more to ask.”

Bagnaia also reflected on how his mindset evolved following a 2025 season in which he admitted he was often too critical of himself.

The Italian spent significant time training at his mentor Valentino Rossi’s ranch in Tavullia, Italy, over the winter, with Rossi’s own difficulties providing him with a valuable perspective.

“My two references in this period normally are Vale and Carlo [Casabianca], who is my trainer,” said Bagnaia.

“They have lived through every kind of situation in the past. Vale had very difficult moments in the past and Carlo was with him in those moments, like Uccio [Salucci].

“One thing that I can say is that you just need to be happy and enjoy the moments, because you never know. I spent four seasons at the top, [finishing] first and second in the championship, and last year I was struggling a bit and I didn't achieve what I was aiming for.

“When I was arriving third or sometimes fourth, I was too critical with myself, and sometimes you just need to take the positive from the situation and just try to analyse things better. 

“Even if I was in a struggle, I wanted to win, and if you are struggling, it is difficult to win. So you just need to be more calm, work well and try to perform in a better way, even if you are struggling. This is something that I tried to work on.”