Francesco Bagnaia hopes his podium finish at the Italian Grand Prix can signal a competitive turnaround for him in MotoGP.
The factory Ducati rider delivered his strongest performance of 2026 at Mugello, leading the first half of the race from sixth on the grid before finishing third behind the Aprilias of Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.
This achievement marked his first Sunday race podium this season, following a previous third-place finish in Barcelona that was awarded only after Joan Mir received a late tyre infringement penalty.
Bagnaia has faced ongoing performance difficulties since the start of the 2025 season, where occasional victories and podium finishes were not enough to hide an otherwise poor run of form.
Despite these struggles, the Italian rider has secured a top-three finish in either the sprint or the Sunday race over the last five rounds in 2026.
Asked if the Mugello weekend marked the end of a “long nightmare,” Bagnaia replied: “I really hope it is like this.”
“From the start of the season, we started to work with a different mindset.
I'm giving everything at home, every training here, to reach the level we used to have,” he stated regarding his preparation.
“Our bike is working in a different way compared to the past, and we are trying to set it in a way that I can be 100% myself and we are reaching this kind of level,” he explained about the technical adjustments.
“It’s true that this GP for me was always super good because the layout of the track suits my style very well.
But with a result like this can be a point of start.
If we continue like this, I promise that we will arrive again and we'll be back there to fight for the wins,” Bagnaia added.
Rather than searching for an immediate breakthrough, Bagnaia is collaborating with Ducati to make a gradual progression back up the racing grid.
The two-time MotoGP champion sees clear signs of progress but notes that specific technical obstacles still remain before he can challenge for victories again.
“It's quite clear that we are struggling,” he said.
“We are missing rear grip, also compared to other Ducati, so we are trying to follow another way,” Bagnaia remarked regarding the performance gap.
“In my case, in the last two seasons, the bike started to have a different balance, and we are just trying to move back the balance in the position I prefer, and the results are arriving,” he pointed out about the setup changes.
“So we just move forward a little, step by step, but we are arriving, and I'm pretty sure that in the future we'll be there fighting with them,” Bagnaia continued.
“I think we are missing rear grip.
With the Aprilia, it looks like you can enter faster in the corner because you can turn more,” Bagnaia added when analyzing the deficit to the dominant Aprilia bikes.
“But we are working on it and we are trying to work on it.
And the next race is Balaton, where the level of grip is high, so maybe we will have less issues.
And then the other two, Brno has amazing grip and Assen has good grip, so I think we can be competitive,” Bagnaia concluded.
