Francesco Bagnaia Reveals Advice from Rossi and Casabianca After Toughest Ducati Season

Francesco Bagnaia has detailed how guidance from two key role models, Valentino Rossi and Carlo Casabianca, helped him reset mentally following what he described as the most challenging MotoGP season of his factory career with Ducati Lenovo Team.

After four consecutive years as a title contender at Ducati, including world championships in 2022 and 2023, Bagnaia endured a sharp reversal in 2025. Unlike new team-mate Marc Marquez, the Italian struggled to find consistent confidence on the Ducati GP25, particularly in braking phases and corner entry.

The situation was further complicated by Bagnaia’s inability to regularly match Alex Marquez, who proved competitive on a year-old Ducati with Gresini. While there were brief flashes of Bagnaia’s former level at circuits such as Motegi and Sepang, his overall performance declined as the season progressed.

Bagnaia ultimately slipped to fifth in the world championship standings, finishing behind the Marquez brothers, Marco Bezzecchi with Aprilia Racing, and Pedro Acosta of KTM.

Speaking at Ducati’s team launch and quoted by Sky Italia, Bagnaia explained how the winter break allowed him to step away from the pressure and reassess his mindset.

“The holidays helped me reset,” Bagnaia said.
“Compared to the past, I tried to disconnect more and took more time to think about myself.”

He acknowledged that his 2025 approach was influenced by lessons from the previous season, but ultimately failed to deliver the desired consistency.

“In 2024 I dominated but lost the world championship, so in 2025 I tried to do a different job that worked in the first part of the season,” he explained.
“During the championship, however, I never felt comfortable on the bike, and I wasn’t able to get 100 percent out of my riding.”

During this period of reflection, Bagnaia naturally turned to Rossi and Casabianca, both of whom have experienced the full spectrum of success and adversity at the highest level of motorcycle racing.

“My two role models during this period were Valentino Rossi and Carlo Casabianca,” Bagnaia said.
“They have both been through all kinds of situations. Even Vale has had difficult moments, and Carlo was with him.”

The advice Bagnaia received focused primarily on mindset rather than results.

“They told me to be happy and enjoy the moment,” he continued.
“I had four seasons at the top and last year I didn’t get what I wanted.”

Bagnaia admitted that throughout 2025 he became overly critical of himself, even when securing objectively solid results.

“When I finished third or fourth, I was too critical of myself,” he said.
“Sometimes you just have to look at the positive side of things and analyse them better.”

He also recognised that his desire to win, even when struggling technically, often worked against him.

“Even if I was struggling, I wanted to win and I couldn’t do it,” Bagnaia explained.
“So I have to stay calmer and try to get the best even when I’m struggling. That’s what I’ve been working on.”

Bagnaia reflected on how his perception of results shifted during the season, particularly as pressure mounted.

“There were times last year when a third place made me angry,” he said.
“When you lose the value of results, you also lose the path.”

He cited the Argentine Grand Prix as a clear example.

“In Argentina I finished fourth. It was a good result because it was the best I could do,” Bagnaia said.
“At the end of the championship, I would have paid to do it again. But at the time, that mentality didn’t allow me to work well.”

The difficult campaign also brought heavy criticism, much of which Bagnaia felt was unjustified.

“It depended on who it came from; 90 percent of it was unnecessary,” he said.
“When criticism is constructive, it’s right to listen to it and absorb it. When it’s useless, there’s no point taking it into consideration.”

Behind-the-scenes footage from the season showed that, despite his own frustration, Bagnaia maintained a strong working relationship with Marquez. In one exchange at Catalunya, he openly expressed his concerns.

“It’s incredible how fast I was last year and how slow I’m going now,” Bagnaia said.
“I’m losing more and more confidence.”

Marquez responded with reassurance.

“You have to arrive at a track and do a reset. Misano is good,” Marquez replied.
“You’ll see. Step by step it will be better.”

Bagnaia said he was not surprised by the positive dynamic between them.

“I’m not surprised we have an excellent relationship,” he explained.
“He is intelligent, has a lot of experience, is mature, and all of that makes a difference.”

Bagnaia and Marquez will begin their 2026 MotoGP on-track preparations at the official Sepang test from February 3–5, marking the first opportunity for Bagnaia to translate his winter reset and the advice of his role models into renewed competitiveness in the final season of the 1000cc era.