Francesco Bagnaia got his 2026 MotoGP campaign off to a poor start on Saturday, failing to progress from the opening qualifying session at the Thailand Grand Prix.
The defending world champion finished third in Q1 behind Raul Fernandez and Franco Morbidelli, who both moved on to Q2. Bagnaia’s best lap of 1:29.348 left him 0.306s short of second place.
Raul Fernandez made the most of his session, not only topping Q1 but also carrying that pace into Q2, where he finished third, just 0.224s behind pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi.
Bezzecchi took pole with a 1:28.652, edging out Marc Marquez by just 0.035 seconds. Marquez found time late in the session to secure second place, while Fabio Di Giannantonio slotted into fourth on his VR46 Ducati GP26.
Sylvain Guintoli believes Francesco Bagnaia is under pressure at the Thailand Grand Prix
Alex Marquez, riding the Ducati GP26 for Gresini, also had a solid session, securing P7 for the opening race in Thailand. However, Bagnaia struggled to find enough pace to make it through to Q2 after admitting that set-up choices during practice cost him an automatic spot.
Bagnaia’s inability to put together a competitive lap in Q1 led Guintoli to question whether the Italian has truly moved past the issues that affected him last season. There is also growing talk in the paddock that Aprilia may now have an edge over Ducati when it comes to machinery.
Speaking on TNT Sports 2 (28/02, 04:13), Guintoli said: “It’s a tough one. It looks like Pecco is on the back foot again, just like last year. We thought he’d sorted the problems, and everything went much better during the winter testing in Sepang and here as well only last week.”
“So, when it looks like when the pressure is on,” he continued, “Pecco is not able to deliver with that bike. When he’s trying to push the bike over its limit, it’s making things worse and making him slower.”
Guintoli added: “The big problem that Ducati have is that Aprilia has made a big jump. They did a big jump during the year last year and again in [the] winter. They’ve gone to work and they’ve come here with solutions for that tyre.
Why Pecco Bagnaia’s struggles in Thailand might be down to Ducati’s tyre choices
Bagnaia looked sharp during pre-season testing at Sepang, and his race simulation was quick enough to catch the eye of other teams. Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola even joked that the rest of the grid should “go home” after seeing Bagnaia’s pace, though Alex Marquez was slightly quicker over long runs.
Still, he needed to show real progress once the season began. The two-time champion had a rough 2025 campaign, dropping to fifth in the championship standings after struggling with Ducati’s new bike that year.
Qualifying in Buriram didn’t do much to silence those concerns. According to Guintoli, part of Bagnaia’s issues might stem from Ducati still not fully adapting to Michelin’s rear tyre designed for hot conditions—something Aprilia seems to have nailed down.
Guintoli added (04:08): “Pecco two years ago here did a new lap record in the 28.7s, and he’s just done a 29.3. That’s half a second slower.
“Where has that gone? You can see on track, he’s just struggling with that rear grip. He can’t hook the bike up, not getting the drive out of the corners and not producing the lap time.”
Guintoli pointed out where Bagnaia is falling short: “Sector one for the Ducati is OK,” he said. “But as soon as you get into the twisty bit where you need to hook the bike up…he can’t turn it.”
And more than anything else over qualifying weekend in Thailand so far this season is how apparent it became that Ducati could be behind Aprilia now when it comes to having built MotoGP’s best package for 2026.
The changes made by both sides with their set-up have now pushed them clear at least right now – meaning there could be early pressure mounting on Bagnaia who needs his first win since August last year which came at Silverstone.
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