Francesco Bagnaia has struggled compared to teammate Marc Marquez to start the 2025 MotoGP season.

Ducati would have been expecting a tough battle on their hands to manage their two champion riders this season, but so far they haven’t been close enough on track.

Marquez has dominated, with Bagnaia a bit behind and even slower than Alex Marquez on the Gresini bike at some races.

With 18 MotoGP races to go this season, there’s plenty of time for their battle to unfold, but it’s the two-time champion who appears most unsettled currently.

It will be difficult for Bagnaia to beat Marquez, but he knows that he has what it takes. He has been a contender in each of the last four championships.

Bagnaia knew he was under pressure before falling off his bike during qualifying at the Grand Prix of Qatar. With every weekend that goes by, he falls further behind in the title race.

Photo by Kaikungwon Duanjumroon/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Francesco Bagnaia thankful MotoGP fans know the truth after fake Marc Marquez story

This week, a story began to circulate in the MotoGP media, suggesting that Bagnaia had said some quite sensational words.

According to Mowmag, it claimed that Bagnaia admitted Marquez was signed by Ducati as a result of his mistakes in the second half of 2024.

On top of that, the Italian had supposedly already given up hope on chasing the title in 2025 after just four events – a very strange comment so early in the season.

After seeing the article from the Italian publication aimed at quashing the fictitious tale, he thanked them in a post on social media.

“Grazie [thank you],” he wrote in an Instagram story.

Bagnaia has a big opportunity against Marquez and is in a great position to boost his reputation by performing well, even more so by overcoming the adversity he has faced so far in 2025.

How Francesco Bagnaia proved a strong bond with Marc Marquez

Historically, it’s difficult for rivals in any form of motorsport to maintain a good working relationship and a friendship away from the track.

Nobody expected that of two world champions, pitted against each other on one of the most dominant bikes of all time.

However, Bagnaia proved a strong bond with Marquez after a hidden exchange at the Grand Prix of the Americas earlier in the campaign.

It may not last forever as frustration grows, but it’s nice to see two rivals at the top of their game getting on so far.

For all Bagnaia has supposedly struggled, he still enjoyed his best opening to a season after three races. He has plenty of fight left yet.

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