Two-time MotoGP World Champion Francesco Bagnaia will face Q1 tomorrow after a poor showing in Practice at the Buriram International Circuit, and says the weather was a factor in his 15th-fastest time.

Bagnaia was decent on Friday morning, finishing just behind Ducati Lenovo teammate Marc Marquez in FP1, but in Practice he was never able to put together a competitive time attack, his best lap time only 0.06 seconds than Fabio Quartararo on the under-developed V4 Yamaha.

Afterwards, Bagnaia explained that a combination of setup mistakes and looming rain clouds resulted in a bad performance on-track.

“I just worked bad,” he told MotoGP.com. “I didn’t get into the new condition, it was a bit different, and I struggled quite a bit on adapting. 

“We were trying a new setup that, for me, was a bit worse, and as soon as we started to see a grey scenario on the sky we just decided to put new tyres. 

“It wasn’t the correct moment because the setup wasn’t helping. 

“So, I just took the things with a bit of rush and it wasn’t the best idea. So, I just ruined a bit the day. But tomorrow is another one and just the second day of the season, and we will try to work better.”

Bagnaia added that corner entry problems were the main negative point of the setup change he disliked, triggering memories of his terrible 2025 MotoGP season.

“On braking and entry the bike was worse,” he said. “In the condition we had – the wind pushing from the back in the back straight – it was more difficult to stop the bike, even. 

“So, I think we just did a wrong choice, but it’s something, it’s a part of the process. 

“If the condition was normal, surely would’ve had to time to [...] improve. But it’s what is is; we need to accept it and work better.”