Franco Morbidelli ‘thought I wasn’t enough’ before Argentina MotoGP podium return

Franco Morbidelli admits he “had time to think I wasn’t enough” in the 1414 days leading up to his latest MotoGP podium at the Argentina Grand Prix.

The VR46 Ducati rider went from winning three races and finishing runner-up in the standings in 2020 to only breaching the podium once in a grand prix between 2021 and this year’s Argentina round.

Battling with numerous injury woes in the last four years, Morbidelli has been strong in the early phase of the 2025 season on the GP24 Ducati.

Finishing fourth at the Thai GP, Morbidelli gambled on a soft rear tyre in Sunday’s Argentina GP and held onto third despite a late push from factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia.

It marks his first podium since the 2021 Spanish GP.

Asked how important this result was for him given his issues in recent years, Morbidelli said: “Well, it was great, big time. I had time to forget how nice it was.

“I had time to think about that I wasn’t worth it. I had time to think that I wasn’t enough.

“I had time to think about many, many good and bad things altogether.

“I’ll tell you next weekend how this feels, because at this moment you are just dizzy - I don’t know if it’s Prosecco or something else!

“But tonight I will understand better what I am feeling and I will tell you next week.”

Morbidelli added that his tyre gamble in Sunday’s 25-grand prix was him “hanging on just like in these last four years”.

“Four years we hung on tight, and it’s an amazing feeling,” he said.

“Was great. The team deserves this. We started the season really well, since the beginning of the tests we started working on our weak points and we improved step by step.

“We still have to get better on some areas, for sure, like the starting position is not what I would like.

“But anyway, this P3 feels amazing and we’ll take it big time.

“I knew we would have a drop, but again I tried to hang on tight just like in these four years. And it worked, I’m happy.”