Marc Marquez talks candidly about his future teammates as his contract is about to be renewed

Marc Marquez Having appeared inconspicuously at Ducati’s presentation at Madonna di Campiglio in 2025, he became a big star a year later, always in good spirits, posing for countless photos with Ducati sponsors and guests, and even doing TV interviews. He was also late for a joint appearance at the press conference, joking to remind us that this was exactly the behavior of Valentino Rossi, the driver who surpassed the number of titles last year, and that this is the behavior of a driver who wants to surpass the number of titles this year, although he did not mention his name.

As for him, there was talk of his recovery from a “mercato” injury sustained during a winter of ups and downs. His priority is Ducati and his new contract will be for two yearsthe most obvious of the goals is repeating the crown. And when asked if he would ever consider putting a number 1 on his bike, as Liberty Media wants, to avoid fooling anyone, he answered bluntly, “No.”

“Ultimately, the logo is 93 and that’s what I identify with and I think my fans do too, and we keep the (championship) stars in our hearts,” he cautioned about Pecco Bagnaia’s introduction of three champion stars, leaving the logo as is.

A 10th crown is his next goal, he said: “I’m not obsessed, but I have a goal. And this year I want to fight for another title. I think we have a responsibility and a pressure to do that. We’ll see. We have to prepare as best as we can so that when that preparation suits the situation, we’re ready to know what problems to solve and how to react. But yes, I want to fight for a title.”

“Last year I started here a little more. I didn’t have any doubts, I joined a new team so I was a little more cautious. Now I know the team and I know the bike. I have to be ready to fight against Pecco, Alex, Bezzecchi and Aprilia or KTM, because everything can change in pre-season.

“It’s true that a new year is a new feeling, and one of the things that I have understood or learned more than I understood in my sports career is that everything can change, not just from one year to the next, but from one race to the next, as we saw in Indonesia from Motegi. That happens at the beginning of the year, and the season changes. The important thing is to have a stable pre-season without exaggeration and to really perform at our best to start in Thailand,” he explained. champion.

Reach 100% on first GP

We saw him training on the bike online, and as the right hand said, he admitted that this winter has been complicated, despite putting in a lot of effort. Jose Martinez A few days ago, he said, “This is the first time I’ve seen you evolve after rehab.” “I’m making good progress, but two weeks ago I fell into a typical situation that often occurs during rehabilitation, where you push a little harder, and your body tells you to slow down a little bit.I got the doctor’s permission, so I started riding the bike earlier than planned. The bone has healed better than expected, but it has allowed me to work a little more calmly and be a little more prepared for the test in Malaysia. However, the aim of the test is to improve technically.” It’s been a month and a half and I’m starting to be happy with how the bike feels now, but up until a week and a half ago it was still a little too stiff. ”

“Age allows me to control myself and above all what I have been through, what I have been through, my injuries, my previous rehabilitation, I arrived and from the first day I was progressing as if nothing had happened, but this time I have been very calm, doing laps and evolving. I trained with more drivers and they all beat me, but little by little But now I’m starting to get to a good level. I think it’s an experience. Age doesn’t make you faster, but it does help in the moment.”Obviously, and I feel that way too, even in training, younger people are emerging and are able to look at things in a different way, less intensely. ”

And the topic of “Mercato” takes up a significant portion of the questions. If before Christmas he was giving Ducati an 8 out of 10 to renew his contract, he now says: “It’s 9 out of 10. We’re getting a little closer. We have to first evaluate all the circumstances and all the possible futures that we have in mind or on the table before making a decision.” Of course, I would like to extend it further, but the MotoGP market is always like this. Every time the expectations rise a little and I believe that already before the first race a few popular names will become known in this market. ”

And he wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t going to make it conditional on the teammate’s name or whether it was a teammate’s name. Pedro Acostaas the CEO of Apilia Racing revealed at the team’s presentation in Milan a few days ago: “Never, never, and I repeat because everything has been said, have I ever imposed any conditions on my teammates? I think about my project, my future, what I really need to be happy.”

“Obviously the motivation is the same, but I have already said that I have already achieved the most important and most difficult thing in my sports career, which is to win again, and from there on, of course, you cannot put conditions on the project, you can look for your own project, but , you also have to understand that any project needs some feasibility. And that’s what we’ll see. For now, my teammate is Pecco, and I’m not going to go into who his teammate could be.”

Looking ahead to the 2026 season, which begins at the end of February, he asserted that it would be difficult to repeat the dominance that they had in 2025. “I don’t think it’s going to be a season like last year. It was a season unlike any other. There were a lot of mistakes by our main competitors like Pecco and we also had Alex who injured his finger midway through the season and hit two zeros in a row. I don’t think it’s different, but when you have drivers who force you to go fast, they’re going to make more mistakes, so you have to manage risk, speed and profit.”

“What I learned is that from one season to the next, I always have all the names on the table. This is what I learned from Andrea Dovizioso. Nobody talked about him, but he came out. That’s what Alex Marquez taught us. No one talked about him here last year, but he told us. So we’re going to put Pedro Acosta, Bezzecchi, Pecco, Alex. Those are the names we’ll remember to mention.” The entire MotoGP grid. ”

and they asked him about the binomial Vinales Lorenzo: “Well, when I was saying to the other MotoGP riders that I was going to include Viñales, I was also going to say Viñales. I saw them training, they were excited, they were motivated. And like I said, Peñales. Whether Aling does well or poorly will depend on the results. That’s where they need to continue to work and practice everything they do.”