Since the start of the 2025 MotoGP season, it's looked increasingly like there are more substantial differences than first expected between Ducati's latest GP25 bike and the preceding GP24 machine that Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia took to first and second in the title fight last year.
That's been most apparent this year in the struggles faced by Bagnaia, whose title bid is looking increasingly unlikely as new team-mate Marc Marquez does what he's best at and simply rides around the problems of the new bike.
Compounded by the fact that Bagnaia is the only Ducati rider to have jumped from a GP24 directly to a GP25 (with Marquez and VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio graduating directly from GP23s), after seven races he's now sitting 72 points behind Marquez and 48 behind Marquez's younger brother Alex on a Gresini-run GP24.
"Finally I understood after six grands prix that what I want from the bike is not there anymore," Bagnaia summed up on Friday at Le Mans. "So I need to find performance in different ways.
"We tried everything, to find back what I want, that is braking-entry in a more solid way.
"This season I feel much more movement from the front in this area.
"I'm a bit...not 'upset', but I feel mad that my greatest point, that was braking-entry, is not anymore a good thing. But it is what it is."
Ducatis in the MotoGP 2025 standings
1. Marc Marquez (GP25) 196
2. Alex Marquez (GP24) 172
3. Pecco Bagnaia (GP25) 124
4. Franco Morbidelli (GP24) 98
6. Fabio Di Giannantonio (GP25) 88
10. Fermin Aldeguer (GP24) 56
With Bagnaia struggling so badly for a solution, it's clear that something has fundamentally changed despite Ducati's insistence that this year's bike is all but completely similar to last year's after a somewhat unsatisfying winter testing programme.
Ducati brought a whole new GP25 to Sepang in January, but the engine, aerodynamics package and frame from that bike were gradually rejected by Marquez and Bagnaia across testing at Sepang and Buriram - in favour of reverting to the older machine ahead of the homologation deadline, or at least so it seemed at the time.
However, that doesn't explain Bagnaia's different feeling - and it seems there's a lot more to it than just a new legendary team-mate ramping up the pressure.
According to The Race's sources in the paddock, there are in fact two key changes to the 2025 bike that Bagnaia, Marquez and Di Giannantonio are riding - changes that in theory helps explain Bagnaia's lack of feeling in particular.
One of those is a slightly different engine - not the 'new' prototype one brought to testing and rejected in favour of last year's, but rather an updated version of the 2024 engine with some smaller internal changes.
While the modification isn't big, it's enough to affect the internal inertia of the engine. And it's been one of the factors that has altered the balance of the bike - which would explain why Bagnaia has lost some of the feeling he used to enjoy on corner entry.
Bagnaia has already long alluded to something in the engine being a culprit, by repeatedly saying a return to the pure GP24-spec was impossible by regulation for him - which would've been a confusing sentiment if the GP24 and GP25 specs were the same, but is one that makes a lot more sense with the understanding that the engine design homologated for his campaign was that updated GP24 spec.
The other big factor, it seems, stems from the bike's new rear ride height device, something that both Marquez and Bagnaia have been experimenting with as they move between the new version and the old one from last year.
This year's version, it seems, is an improvement on last year's, allowing the factory trio to make up substantially more time on corner exit.
It's also considerably lighter than last year's, though, and sits in a slightly different position on the bike - something else that also affects Bagnaia’s feeling by changing the balance of the bike.
However, with the aforementioned engine homologation and with the improved ride height device offering a tangible benefit, it means that Bagnaia really only has one option going forwards: continue his adaptation process to this year’s bike sooner rather than later.
