Francesco Bagnaia must “stop the bleeding” of points in title race against Marc Marquez

TNT MotoGP presenters and pundits Michael Laverty, Neil Hodgson, and Suzi Perry believe this year’s championship could be out of Francesco Bagnaia’s hands, with Alex Marquez now the closest challenger to leader Marc Marquez.

The two-time MotoGP champion has had a difficult start to the season, recently with a point-less weekend in France and a retirement from the British GP at Silverstone.

He sits third in the championship standings behind Alex Marquez in second, while Marc Marquez leads the pack by 24 points from his brother and 72 points from Bagnaia.

Speaking ahead of the British GP, Hodgson said: “I’m sort of not surprised being totally honest, because deep down I thought Marc was going to dominate this year. He’s probably dominated even more than I expected.

“Obviously he’s made a couple of mistakes. If he’d not made those mistakes, the season would be done already, almost.

“As far as Pecco [Bagnaia] goes, each round that goes by, I feel like this is such an important round for him.

“He’s got to stop the bleeding, he’s got to make the difference, he’s got to beat his team-mate. He has to make the difference.”

Laverty continued: “I want to say I’m confident Pecco will turn it around, but I’m not at the moment. Just on Marc’s current form, Alex is his closest challenger.

“But I don’t know if Alex will have enough to claw Marc’s gap back and to consistently beat him.

“I hope that I’m wrong, but I’m in agreement with Neil. I think Marc’s the best rider in the championship. He’s got the best bike and the best tools at his disposal now, he’s going to take some toppling.”

Perry was more confident Bagnaia could turn around his performances, but said she would be ‘surprised’ if he were to come back to take the title.

“Can Pecco come back? Yeah, I think he can come back. But I think it’s a little late now to come back and win the championship. I would be surprised,” she said.

“There’s clearly a massive issue with the front end of that bike for him, and his confidence.

“I see the championship, there’s a long way to go, but I honestly see it now we’re a third of the way in between Marc and Alex.”

Alex Marquez’s performances this season have been eye-opening to many, including taking his first MotoGP race victory at his home race in Jerez in April.

This victory led to him leading the riders’ standings before the French GP, an impressive feat given his previous highest MotoGP championship finish was eighth in 2024.

While Marc’s form has been relatively dominant so far this season, Alex has consistently delivered, with three consecutive second-placed finishes in the opening three rounds of the season, and putting himself in a position to pick up the pieces should Marc make a mistake.

Hodgson said: “He’s been the surprise of the year. He’s been a lot more consistent than in his previous years of MotoGP.

“It shows having Marc Marquez as your team-mate is the worst thing for any rider. If you looked at Alex’s season last year, it was quite an average year. Lots of mistakes, nowhere near as fast as his brother at any point. And that’s what Pecco is experiencing.

“But what Alex is experiencing now is, Marc’s out of the team. He’s the number one rider in that Gresini team. He’s got a rookie team-mate. And he’s really stepped it up.”

Laverty agreed, saying: “He’s better than anyone predicted pre-season, because his consistency to be runner-up to Marc on all those occasions means he’s beaten Pecco, Fabio, Morbidelli.

“Every time, he is the next best, and the way he rode in Jerez, I think without the crash from Marc, I think he had enough to actually beat Marc on the head-to-head. So he’s got impressive speed right now, and he’s got the aggression as well.

“The one thing I do notice, I think he’s slightly less aggressive on Marc, because they’ve got the brotherly love thing. He’ll put it in on anyone else, but on Marc, it’s more calculated, which obviously he doesn’t want to upset his brother.”

Speaking after the Silverstone weekend, Perry said: “I think Alex has found his rhythm. He won the sprint race on Saturday, and it’s great to see him in the spotlight, because he’s always in the shadow of his brother. So them swapping the lead of the championship has been really good.”