British GP DNF for Francesco Bagnaia: “I Had the Speed to Win, But the Feeling Was Terrible” – MotoGP 2025
Francesco Bagnaia endured a frustrating British Grand Prix, retiring after a crash that followed a drastic drop in performance post-restart. While he had strong pace and good feeling during the initial start—closely following Fabio Quartararo and building a gap over the chasing pack—a tire change during the red flag break proved costly.
Bagnaia switched to a new medium rear tire for the restart, but from the outset, he struggled with traction. He quickly lost positions, ran wide at Turn 9, and ultimately crashed out at Turn 7—despite riding normally. The reigning champion expressed serious concerns about the bike's competitiveness, which he felt was lacking throughout the season, and acknowledged the need to reassess both setup and his own adaptation.
Francesco Bagnaia:
“In the first start, I had a good feeling. I was able to follow Fabio and create a gap to the riders behind. But after the restart, we changed to a new rear tire—still a medium compound—but it just didn’t work. I lost positions immediately and had no traction at all. I ran wide at Turn 9 and eventually crashed in Turn 7, even though I was riding normally. Something clearly went wrong, and we need to analyze the data closely.
This is the first time this season I really felt the bike lacked competitiveness. As usual, only Marc seemed able to ride around the bike’s weaknesses. He’s doing a great job hiding them—something I clearly need to improve on myself.
The compound didn’t change—just a new medium tire—but the feeling was completely different. It’s been the same since Friday, and really, all season long. I still can’t find the right feeling. The speed is there to win, but the feeling is terrible. The team and engineers are giving it everything, but we need some kind of breakthrough.”
(Photo courtesy of Ducati)