Francesco Bagnaia remained in a frustrated mood at MotoGP's Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday, having smashed his windscreen during morning qualifying. 

The Italian was pushing for an improved lap time late in the Qualifying 2 session when he almost lost control of his factory Ducati under braking for the first corner. His immediate response was to strike the screen - an uncharacteristic move from the Turinese but one that reflected dejection that had begun yesterday.

Bagnaia ended up starting 10th on the grid and finishing the race in sixth position. While that was not bad by his 2026 standards, the contrast with 2025 is painful for the double world champion. Last year, this track offered him a brief respite from his season-long difficulties: he took pole position before winning the sprint. 

"Honestly, I know that I can do much better than this," he said gloomily at the end of Saturday. "[Like] I already did at this track six months ago, eight months ago.

"Seeing also from the data what I'm not able to do and [not recognising] myself doing things is something that gives me frustration."

He then expanded further on how he had lost his cool with the bike: "In those kinds of situations when the adrenaline is quite high, you set your lap time, you try to go for another one, risking... and right in the first corner, already the bike is not stopping... it's difficult."

Bagnaia won the Sepang sprint a year ago

Photo by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Network

Speaking about his sprint race, Bagnaia referenced familiar issues with rear tyre wear, though this was mitigated by raindrops that slowed the overall race pace. 

"It was not enjoyable," said the 29-year-old. "The only luck of today is that it started to rain, because I finished the rear tyre after three laps. 

"I started well... I tried to follow Marco Bezzecchi who was in front of me. But after three laps I finished the rear tyre. It was dry, I was going back and back and back.

"Luckily it started to rain and I was able to manage it a bit better. But it's tough, considering that tomorrow the race is double the distance, probably it will not rain and the temperature will be high. So we need to understand that and work a bit on that."