Francesco Bagnaia has called his situation “ridiculous” after failing to make it directly into Q2 for this weekend’s MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix.
While the double world champion had already failed to make the Friday cut 10 times in 2026, his excellent record in Malaysia meant he came into this event with a lot more confidence. Even amid the horrors of his 2025 campaign, he had been fast at Sepang and won the sprint race from pole.
But he was left frustrated after this year’s opening day did not go to plan for the factory Ducati rider. He found himself outside the critical top 10 with just minutes remaining in the practice session, then crashed as he looked to make the cut.
Although he fell at Turn 1, Bagnaia said the fast first and fourth sectors were not the problem when it came to putting together a lap time.
“My bike works only when it’s straight, so I did the maximum in the first and last sector,” he reported. “I think I’m in the top three in both sectors. In the other two sectors I lose eight tenths, so it’s ridiculous.”
Indeed, Bagnaia was second-quickest in sector one and third-quickest in sector four. These parts of the track include the two main straights, where his Ducati was performing well. He was the fastest representative from Borgo Panigale in the top-speed charts, joining several other riders with the second-fastest recorded maximum.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Hazrin Yeob Men Shah / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The ‘ideal lap time’, which combines all a rider’s best sectors, would also have only put Bagnaia in the 12th position he managed in reality, suggesting he had not left a lot out there.
Bagnaia was not in a chatty mood after the session, and responded as follows when asked about the performance of different aero options: “To feel something, you need to have a feeling on the bike.”
He did not choose to blame circuit conditions for his misfortune on a day when the track appeared slippery. Sepang hosted a rare Formula 1 race earlier this month, and had been due for a resurface ahead of this year’s MotoGP race – only for the work not to be done after all.
“The track feels like in the [pre-season] test,” he said. “We need the resurface, but they were trying to do it, but unluckily they could not ship the material here to do it. So we already knew that it was the last time riding in these conditions.
“[But] my feeling on the bike is completely different. So this is the main thing to understand, but more or less all the season it has been like this.”
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