Andrea Dovizioso ‘scared’ by Pecco Bagnaia’s MotoGP ‘suffering’

Ex-Ducati MotoGP star Andrea Dovizioso says Pecco Bagnaia’s current struggles “scare me a little” as he “can see in his eyes he’s really suffering”.

Dovizioso joined Ducati in 2013 and helped spearhead development of the bike back to being a race winner, as well as fighting for the title in 2017 against Marc Marquez.

When Dovizioso left Ducati at the end of 2020, he was replaced at the factory team by Pecco Bagnaia, who went on to become a double world champion in 2022 and 2023.

But since narrowly missing out on a third title in 2024, Bagnaia’s form has plummeted on the Ducati, with the Italian leaving the brand at the end of the year for Aprilia.

“More than just sporting dissatisfaction”

Speaking in a new podcast on his YouTube channel, 15-time MotoGP race winner Dovizioso has given concerned views on Bagnaia’s situation.

“His behaviour and what he says scares me a little,” he said.

“I just hope he doesn’t experience racing like that, because I can see in his eyes that he’s really suffering.”

Bagnaia won just once in 2025, as he struggled with front-end confidence on the GP25.

In 2026, he has battled a lack of rear grip that none of the other Ducati riders have faced, with Bagnaia’s best result so far being a handful of third-place finishes.

“I wish I could read the minds of the engineers and Pecco to better understand the situation. But that’s not possible, so we have to stay out of it.”

In a recent interview, former Jorge Lorenzo crew chief Ramon Forcada revealed that Ducati had tried “unconventional things” to help Bagnaia, but even these haven’t worked.

“A truly serious situation”

Dovizioso went on to say: “It’s a truly serious situation.

“If we were to discuss it, we’d be touching on important, personal and sensitive issues.

“I don’t want to further aggravate or comment on the situation of a rider who is already going through such a difficult time.

“In all these years that I have lived the MotoGP World Championship, I have never experienced or seen, neither in myself nor in other riders, a situation comparable to the one Pecco is going through.”