French GP Day 1 – Francesco Bagnaia in 3rd: “I’m in a Situation Where I’ve Lost Direction”

Struggling with the Gap to the Ideal – Francesco Bagnaia Reflects on Day 1 at the French GP

Although Francesco Bagnaia finished third on Friday at the French Grand Prix, he admitted to feeling unsettled about his current direction. While he found some positives in the session, he expressed frustration with the front-end feel of his bike, noting that it wasn’t delivering what he needed. Bagnaia said he would have to compensate through his own riding. He also remained cautious about using the new chassis tested in Jerez and acknowledged the pace shown by rivals Marc Márquez and Fabio Quartararo.

Francesco Bagnaia:

“I’m satisfied in the sense that I got some feeling today, but honestly, I’m in a situation where I don’t really know what I’m looking for anymore. Given that, I suppose it’s a good result — but the front of the bike just isn’t giving me what I want, so there’s still a lot of work to do.”

“What I’m trying to get out of the bike doesn’t seem to be there, so I have to make up for it with my riding. I didn’t test the new chassis at Jerez. It might offer improvements, but trying it here feels too risky. If Marc is using it, I imagine there’s some benefit to it.”

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, I think Marc will still be the fastest. Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Viñales are likely to be right there in the mix too.”