It's been a paddock rumor since June, and now it's official: Ducati is parting ways with Alvaro Bautista at the end of the 2025 season. At 40, the two-time Superbike World Champion, a true winning machine for the Italian brand, will no longer be wearing the Aruba.it Ducati colors in 2026.
It all came to a head on June 10, when Ducati has extended the contract of Nicolò Bulega, vice-world champion and new face of the brand. With a massive salary increase for the Italian, there is room to maneuver to keep Baptist has evaporated. Ducati did not exercise its option for 2026, and the negotiations that followed quickly became bogged down.
For ten years, the "Reds" strategy has remained the same: invest in a single leader, and build around him with a second competitive but less expensive driver. Baptist, despite his titles and his extraordinary track record, no longer fit into this pattern.
The next generation has now been identified: Iker Lecuona, 25 years old. The Valencian, 15 years younger than Baptist, quits Honda after four seasons of Superbike and two of MotoGP. Although he has never yet won a world championship, Ducati believes in his untapped potential. Several Ducati executives are convinced that his ceiling is much higher than what he showed on the Honda Fireblade.
And Bautista in all this?
Having passed through Moto2, MotoGP and the WSBK, lecuona already has a great deal of experience. Despite injuries and absences, he is ninth in the league this season. His contract with Ducati runs until 2026, the date that coincides with the end of the agreement between Aruba.it and the factory.
For its part, Baptist does not intend to retire. The Spaniard wants to bounce back in WorldSBK with the team Barni Spark DucatiOne condition: receiving real technical support from the factory. According to reports, the two parties are close to an agreement.
By formalizing the departure of its most prolific champion, Ducati turns a page but is already looking to the future: Open up as a figurehead, lecuona as a bet for the future, and the prospect of MotoGP 2027 hanging over the strategic choices.
The 2026 season promises to be a turning point: Baptist will play his last card, lecuona his all-out, and Ducati, faithful to its method, bets on youth and the future.
