Born on 21 November 1984 in Talavera de la Reina, Castile-La Mancha, Bautista first rode a motorcycle at the age of three. His father owned a motorcycle repair shop and built Bautista's first bike from scratch. He began competing at age eight and eventually won the Madrid Minimoto Championship three years in a row. In 1997, he entered the 50cc Aprilia Cup, finishing the season in 6th place. He took two more podiums the following year to end the season in third place.
In 1999, Bautista was selected by Alberto Puig from over 4,000 applicants for the Movistar Activa Joven Cup. He finished fifth in his first year, ahead of Dani Pedrosa. After a 2000 season hampered by injury, he entered the 125cc Spanish Championship in 2001. Though his initial team, Team Belart, folded mid-season, he was signed by Manuel Morente for a new team sponsored by Atlético Madrid. In 2002, he finished as runner-up in the Spanish Championship after a crash in the final race at Valencia. The same year, Bautista made his international debut in the 2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, running as a wildcard entry at Jerez, Catalunya, and Valencia. He also competed in the 125cc European Championship where he scored a podium in Assen and a fourth place in Hungary.
Bautista's connection with football deepened in 2003 when former footballer Clarence Seedorf signed him for the Seedorf Racing Team to compete in his first full season in the 125cc World Championship. That same year, he was crowned the 125cc Spanish Champion in dominant fashion, never finishing off the podium. After two seasons with Seedorf Racing that yielded a best championship rank of seventh in 2004, he joined Jorge Martinez’s MVA Aspar Team for the 2006 season.
The 2006 season served as Bautista's primary breakthrough. He won the opening race at Jerez and became the first 125cc rider in four years to achieve back-to-back wins by following up with a victory in Qatar. He secured the 125cc World Championship in Australia with three races remaining. Along the way, he set records for the highest number of points in the class and the most podium finishes in a single season, standing on the rostrum in 14 out of 16 races.
Moving to the 250cc class with the Aspar Team in 2007, Bautista earned the MotoGP / FIM "Rookie of the Year" award after finishing fourth in the standings with victories at Mugello and Estoril. In 2008, he finished as the championship runner-up behind Marco Simoncelli. Despite a difficult start to the year, including an engine failure at Jerez that caused a collision with Simoncelli, Bautista secured four wins and ten podium finishes. His 2009 campaign saw him lead the championship early on with wins in Japan and Catalunya, but a collision with Hiroshi Aoyama at Assen and a gearbox issue at Estoril contributed to him finishing second in the final standings.
Bautista moved up to MotoGP for the 2010 season with the factory Suzuki team. After two years with Suzuki, he moved to the Honda-equipped Gresini Racing team in 2012. This season marked his most successful in the premier class; he achieved his first MotoGP pole position at Silverstone) and his first podium at Misano. He finished in the top six in 2012 and 2013.
In 2015, Bautista remained with the Gresini team as they transitioned to Aprilia machinery for the factory's return to MotoGP. He then rode a Ducati with the Aspar (then Ángel Nieto) MotoGP team in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, he made a one-off appearance for the factory Ducati team at the Australian Grand Prix as a replacement for the injured Jorge Lorenzo. He then returned to the Ángel Nieto Team for the final two races of the season.
Bautista transitioned to the Superbike World Championship in 2019 with the factory Ducati team. He began his rookie season with a record-breaking 11 consecutive victories. However, a string of crashes in the second half of the season and a shoulder injury sustained at Laguna Seca prevented him from taking the title, and he finished the year as runner-up to Jonathan Rea with 16 total wins.
For 2020 and 2021, Bautista was contracted to ride the Honda Fireblade in World Superbikes, with the team being run under full HRC control. He struggled on underperforming machinery, scoring the only HRC podium of the 2020 season at Aragon and finishing 9th place. In 2021, he achieved two third-place finishes but finished the season 10th overall.
Returning to the Aruba.it Ducati official factory team for the 2022 season, Bautista was immediately competitive again. He led the championship from the first round in Aragon and secured the world title with one round to spare at the Mandalika round, recording 16 wins and 31 podiums. In 2023, he successfully defended his title with a total of 27 victories, becoming the first Ducati rider to defend his title since Carl Fogarty in 1999.
At the 2012 Dutch TT at Assen, Bautista qualified eighth but made a slow start and tried to alleviate his losses by braking late for the first turn. He locked the front wheel and fell from his bike, taking down championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. Both bikes slid along the ground, and Lorenzo's throttle jammed open, which blew the engine. Yamaha lodged a complaint with race direction, stating that Bautista's actions were dangerous, and he was given a grid penalty for the German Grand Prix—starting last on the grid—for his actions.
In 2023, following his consecutive WorldSBK titles, Bautista had a wildcard entry in the Malaysian GP with the Aruba.it Racing team. He finished the two races in 22nd and 17th positions, later confirming he was suffering from injuries received during a previous test.
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