Francesco Bagnaia is simply counting down the days until his departure from Ducati, admitting as Motorsport.com reports that the final three rounds of the 2026 MotoGP season will be about nothing more than surviving. The three-time world champion arrived at the Malaysian Grand Prix hoping for a much-needed turnaround at a circuit where he has previously triumphed twice in four years. Having conquered his machine's troublesome behavior here last year to claim pole and a Sprint victory, Sepang was supposed to be his best launchpad before leaving the Borgo Panigale marque.
Unfortunately, reality bit hard. Bagnaia could only manage 10th in qualifying, expressing his anger by smashing his windscreen, before limping home to 13th on Sunday after briefly dropping out of the points altogether. When asked if he was counting down the days to the end of the year, his reply was a blunt yes, noting it was a feeling that stretched far beyond just this single weekend. Confronted with the reality that the GP26 refused to cooperate at one of his favorite tracks, his expectations for the remaining races are stark: survival.
The warning signs have plagued the 29-year-old all year, originating from persistent grip issues. While the first half of the season featured four straight Sunday podiums and a Sprint win at Brno, form collapsed after the summer break. The last eight rounds have brought nothing better than a pair of sixth-place Sprint finishes, and Sepang offered zero relief. Bagnaia confessed he could not push for even a single lap on Sunday, watching his pace unravel completely as the laps ticked down.
The numbers tell a brutal story. Bagnaia's final lap on Sunday was a 2m05.1s, specifically clocking a 2m05.143s, which left him a full two seconds adrift of his team-mate Marc Marquez—who was visibly celebrating his seventh grand prix win of the season by backing off considerably. Other riders on Ducati machinery, namely Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli, managed to circulate in the 2m02s bracket late in the race, while Fabio di Giannantonio hovered in the mid 2m03s.
It is a stunning slide for a championship heavyweight. Bagnaia noted that trying to manage the severe lack of grip failed entirely, leaving him completely out of rear tyres after just five laps and forcing him into conservative survival mode. Calling the final stretch an easy run simply because he lacked the capability to push a single lap, the Italian accepts that this is the harsh reality facing him and the Ducati Team machine for the remaining three events.
MotoGP
MotoGP
