Pecco Bagnaia couldn't hide his frustration. The Ducati Lenovo rider felt wronged after his semi-private conversation with Fabio Di Giannantonio was broadcast by Spanish broadcaster DAZN. The incident occurred at Misano, between media interviews. In the footage, Bagnaia was seen complaining about his struggles with the bike, and one particular phrase went viral: Ducati "isn't letting" him use a more straightforward set-up.
Facing the press at the Red Bull Ring, Bagnaia anticipated the questions. He admitted his phrasing was "not correct" but also felt unfairly treated by DAZN. "You know me very well, you listen to me every day when we are racing," Bagnaia told print journalists. "I think many times it was asked to me: 'Is the team supporting you?' And I always said yes, the team is doing the maximum to help me."
Bagnaia explained the video was incomplete and out of context. "The video is not complete. We were speaking about one more thing [specific part]. Sometimes you say things in the wrong way. But what I always said is that Ducati supported me a lot - and what I meant is that I tried to put and remove [certain parts] many times already, so Ducati is not allowing me to do [it] anymore. But just because I already did many times - and I don't want to continue this kind of thing. What came out of my mouth was said in the wrong way."
What angered him more, according to Bagnaia, was the disrespectful way it was aired. "But then what happened next is a disaster for me. Because it's completely out of respect. And the relationship between journalists and riders needs respect. Yesterday we spoke about it [within Ducati]. It's normal that, the way it comes out on television, it looks terrible."
The footage has since been erased by DAZN, and the broadcaster has apologised to Bagnaia. The Italian rider said Ducati understood the situation and "know that I'm not completely crazy". "It's clear that you can take our words and put them online in the way you want. Because you can say three words and can have two different complete contexts. Positive or negative. You [media] are the ones that need to be transparent, and understand what we are saying. But I know that sometimes it's important to have a nice clickbait title. But I always try to be as transparent as possible. But I will try to be less. In the future maybe you will have less from me."
Di Giannantonio, who ended up an unwitting third party in the controversy, was also displeased on Bagnaia's behalf. "I don't want to say something about this story [specifically] because it's not my story, but I can say that us as riders, especially us as Italians, we have known each other for a long time - and we always talk about bikes, it's completely normal for us. What happened, it was a thing outside the cameras, but apparently it was inside. So I think it was a bit unfair [to air it]. But the problem is now that we always have..." (statement truncated).
This controversy adds pressure on Bagnaia as he battles with his bike's performance. Nevertheless, he reaffirmed Ducati's commitment. However, the incident serves as a reminder that the line between private and public in the paddock is increasingly thin. Riders must now be more careful, even in casual conversations with colleagues.
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Di Giannantonio calls broadcasting his private chat with Bagnaia about Ducati at Misano unfair, defends Pecco and criticises click-driven media.
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