Francesco Bagnaia was reportedly puzzled by Ducati’s decision to sign Marc Marquez.

The two riders are heading into their second year together, but it doesn’t look like this partnership will go beyond 2025. Marquez earned his move to the factory team after a solid season with Gresini.

Bagnaia has been with Ducati throughout his MotoGP career, joining the factory team in 2021. But after losing convincingly to Marquez last season, there were signs that Ducati’s trust in him had started to waver.

Francesco Bagnaia was surprised by Ducati’s move to sign Marquez

Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Bagnaia would have ‘gladly avoided’ a direct head-to-head with Marquez, who is the most successful rider on the grid.

The Italian won back-to-back world titles in 2022 and 2023, but Marquez is regarded as one of the sport’s all-time greats and has never been outscored by a teammate while fully fit.

Moreover, Bagnaia ‘never really understood’ why he had to face the #93. Ducati dropped Enea Bastianini at the end of 2024 to make way for him.

While Jorge Martin won the world title at satellite team Pramac that year, Ducati easily took home both teams’ and constructors’ championships. Instead of promoting Martin, they chose to let him go in favour of signing Marquez.

Ducati’s thinking behind signing Marc Marquez

Bastianini admitted that at the time, Ducati’s decision to bring in Marquez seemed odd, especially with Jorge Martin performing so well. But with Marquez having dominated the 2025 season, it’s hard to question Dall’Igna’s judgement.

Honda struggled to provide a competitive bike, even for Marquez. Ducati saw the risk of him joining another capable team and wanted to keep him within their own setup.

Marquez and Acosta form a formidable pairing for Ducati, while Aprilia now feature Bagnaia and Bezzecchi following Bastianini’s departure from Red Bull KTM GasGas Tech3 after only one year.

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