Factory Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso said that a lack of feeling is costing him through free practice at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

The World Championship challenger struggled to eleventh place on his GP19, 0.615 off his satellite Ducati stable-mate Pecco Bagnaia and starring down a high-pressured FP3 to try and avoid Q1.

The Italian said that his lowly position was due to the rest of the field improving, rather than severe struggles of his own.

“My lap time is faster than last year, but from everybody unfortunately,” said Dovizioso.

“The competitors are stronger than last year, but we are quite fast and better than what the classification shows. I don’t have the feeling I want.

“The situation is not bad but I’m not happy. The base is not how I want it and I can’t ride like I want to, so we have to improve. We tried a different set-up in the afternoon and it was a big step forward.

“We have to find something and we have to see tomorrow morning if we can mix some of the things from the set-ups. I’m struggling with the bike and not riding in the way I want.”