Legendary manager Pernat sees a psychological problem in Bagnaia

Francesco Bagnaia is currently experiencing what is arguably his most difficult season since becoming a top-tier MotoGP rider. At the halfway point of the season, the Ducati factory rider is languishing in 8th place in the World Championship, making him only the third-best Ducati rider. Even the injury-enforced absence of team-mate Marc Marquez has so far failed to help Bagnaia in the title race – he currently trails the 2025 world champion by 47 points.

For long-standing MotoGP rider manager Carlo Pernat, however, the former world champion’s sporting crisis is not down to technical factors. Speaking to SPEEDWEEK.com, the Italian instead attributed it to psychological factors.

According to Pernat, Bagnaia is not an exceptional talent

“In MotoGP, there are riders who are true phenomena, and then there are the champions,” explained Pernat. “For me, there are three phenomena: Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta and Fabio Quartararo. Pecco Bagnaia belongs to the group of champions.”

Nevertheless, Pernat leaves no doubt about Bagnaia’s achievements. “He is a champion who has won three world championships – one in Moto2 and two in MotoGP. You don’t win unless you’re a champion. But he is not an exceptional talent.”

Pernat is convinced: Marquez has got into Bagnaia’s head

Pernat sees the turning point as the summer of 2024, when Ducati announced the signing of Marc Marquez for the factory team. “When Ducati decided to sign Marquez, Bagnaia’s mind started to go off the rails the very next day. I believe, from a psychological point of view, Bagnaia had a problem.”

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Pernat cannot attribute the fact that the Italian has since fallen well short of his potential to external circumstances. “You can’t ride like he has for two seasons – even with Marquez as a team-mate. It’s true that Marquez has always beaten his team-mates. That’s understandable. But not in this way.”

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For the experienced rider manager, it is therefore clear that practically nothing has changed in the two-time MotoGP World Champion’s environment. “The team is the same one with which he won his two titles, his crew chief is the same, the engineers are the same, the circuits are the same. The only thing that has changed is Bagnaia’s mindset.”

Pernat’s interim assessment is correspondingly clear-cut. “For all these reasons, my mark for Bagnaia’s first half of the season is: failed.”