Marquez and Bagnaia clash over the cause of Ducati's nightmare start to 2026 season

Although the pair achieved some success in the sprint races so far this year, Sunday has been a different issue as Ducati have largely fallen behind the dominant Aprilias, while VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio has largely outshone the factory duo.

The issues for Bagnaia were evident in the COTA sprint race, when he couldn't keep Jorge Martin behind on the final lap despite holding a 1.7 second advantage at one stage towards the end. The rear tyre was completely shredded before Bagnaia had even completed the final lap, and therefore offered no defence against Martin's incredible overtake.

"In the last few laps, I was lacking everything." said Bagnaia after the race, "Even in the warm up, I noticed the bike was much heavier . In the first few laps, I took it easy, but in the last eight, I noticed a huge drop in tire wear. And in the last two, I almost crashed several times; the rear tires were dead. [...] I can't enter the right-hand corners because I lose the rear end. With this bike, we have to turn with the rear tire, and that destroys the tires."

While Bagnaia's comments certainly had visible evidence to back them at the USA Grand Prix, Marc Marquez gave a slightly different perspective and instead placed the blame on himself, rather than the bike:

"It’s me, not the bike." He said, when asked about the GP26's issues, "I need to really understand how to improve the first few laps. I don’t feel comfortable on the bike. [...] It seems like I’m getting used to a position, not a natural position on the bike, and then I’m just riding along. I’m still fast, but I can’t make a difference."