Bagnaia angry after "f***ing up" with crash in Qatar GP qualifying

Bagnaia had high expectations for qualifying at the Qatar GP, but ended up falling on his decisive run

Francesco Bagnaia says he is angry about ‘f***ing up’ his Qatar Grand Prix weekend with a qualifying crash on Saturday.

Bagnaia had looked strong all weekend until he dropped his factory Ducati at Turn 4 on his final qualifying run, resulting in the Italian starting the race 11th.

It was an emotional disappointment for Bagnaia, who subsequently struggled to make up ground in the sprint and could only finish eighth. That’s because he had built genuine expectations for the first time in 2025, claiming after Friday practice that he was closer than ever to dominant team-mate Marc Marquez.

“I f***ed up in qualifying,” admitted the two-time MotoGP world champion. “I'm a bit angry about my mess in the [session].

“Honestly, I was super fast this morning with used tyres. The feeling was fantastic and I was able to do what I wanted. Then in qualifying, unfortunately, I wasn’t happy with what I was feeling in the first attempt.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Noushad Thekkayil - NurPhoto - Getty Images

Bagnaia then set off relatively early for his second and final run. Soon he was spotted heading into Turn 1 with self-evident confidence in the rear end of the bike. That aggression translated into the fastest first sector of the session up until that point. But then he pushed his luck a little too far with the factory GP25.

“In the second attempt everything was fine. I was able to push. But I over-pushed in Turn 4. I ran a bit too fast, and when I tried to let the bike in, I lost the front after losing the rear a bit. So it was completely my mistake.”

Hopes of stopping Marquez romping to yet another sprint victory were gone the moment Bagnaia’s accident consigned him to 11th on the grid. But in a race where many riders proved that overtaking was possible, Bagnaia showed a distinct lack of progress.

At one point, he was even passed by his 2024 title rival Jorge Martin, who is riding injured after missing the first three weekends. Ironically, Martin’s title last year had much to do with Bagnaia’s relatively poor performance in sprint races. Bagnaia admitted that there was still an issue passing other riders in sprints.

“From the moment I crashed, I more or less knew that in the sprint race it could be tougher. Because already in the three seasons that we have been doing sprints, I’ve been struggling to overtake riders. I cannot brake like I want.

“The reason is still difficult to understand from my point of view. Because the only difference [to a grand prix] is the [smaller] fuel tank. But I'm the only one with this kind of thing.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“So I need to improve, I need to learn what to do in a sprint situation. Because it's not possible that if I'm stuck behind I cannot overtake riders.”

Following his fourth sprint win out of four at the start of 2025, Marquez said Bagnaia would still be a threat in the longer grand prix on Sunday despite his lowly grid position. And the Turin man agreed with the Spaniard’s assessment.

“For tomorrow I know that the potential is to fight for the podium,” said ‘Pecco’. “I’m confident for it.”