– Not Marc Marquez on the factory Ducati, but Alex Marquez on his identical Ducati Desmosedici GP26 from the Gresini team was the strongest of the six Ducati riders in the field at the recent MotoGP weekend of the British Grand Prix in Silverstone.
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In qualifying, Alex Marquez had to line up just 0.012 seconds behind his brother Marc Marquez. Marc started from sixth, Alex from seventh on the grid for the two races. In the sprint, Alex finished P4, while Marc struggled with massive tire wear and only finished P9. In the Grand Prix, Marc was seventh, while Alex was again fourth, but in his view, he gave up a podium place due to a driving error.
The mentioned driving error happened to Alex Marquez when he braked too late in turn 1 on lap 10 of 20 while running in third place on Sunday. On this occasion, Aprilia factory rider Marco Bezzecchi, whom he had just overtaken, passed him again. More than that: KTM factory rider Pedro Acosta also took advantage of Alex Marquez’s late braking to overtake him.
Two laps later, the young Marquez got past Acosta again, but not Bezzecchi. About 1.3 seconds behind the Italian, who completed an all-Aprilia podium, Alex Marquez finished in fourth place. After the race, the Gresini rider initially expressed disappointment about his own mistake. Looking at the bigger picture, however, he is happy that he was the strongest Ducati rider in Silverstone. The latter comes as no surprise to him or his brother Marc Marquez.
“If you throw away a podium place with a stupid mistake, then honestly, that is unacceptable to me,” Alex Marquez first admits and explains: “I just missed my braking point a little bit at that moment. The podium was realistic.”
“I think I could have even finished second,” Alex Marquez clarifies his assessment and hints more than just that without the mistake he believes he could have outperformed not only Bezzecchi but also his Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin.
“In turn 1, I was just a bit too optimistic at that moment. I braked just a little too late. Still, overall it was a very solid race. I was fast until the end. Marco was just smarter. He saved a bit more of a rear tire for the last two laps than I did,” says Alex Marquez.
Nevertheless, the young Marquez believes he could have kept up with both Aprilia factory riders in the 20-lap race on Sunday. Jorge Martin started from pole, teammate Bezzecchi from fifth place and thus from the second row. Alex Marquez, on the other hand, had to start from the third row after his narrow qualifying defeat against brother Marc Marquez.
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“The advantage they [at Aprilia] had here was the starting position. My seventh place on the grid was a big disadvantage. It cost us the chance. It wouldn’t have been enough for Raul,” Alex Marquez refers to the winning Trackhouse-Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez. “But the podium would definitely have been possible without that one mistake. I think I could have finished second.”
That he himself, not brother Marc Marquez, was the strongest Ducati rider on both race days in Silverstone, Alex Marquez explains as follows: “The track is similar to Catalonia. In the first corners, I manage very well to save the rear tire because I ride very smoothly at the apex.”
“The faster the corners, the better I can manage the rear tire. This flowing track layout has always suited me, especially regarding the right side of the rear tire,” says Alex Marquez about the Silverstone Circuit.
In this context, Alex Marquez also praises the development at Ducati. “Compared to the start of the season, our deficit has become significantly smaller. This applies especially to tracks like this one, where Aprilia is extremely fast. We are getting closer. Ducati is really working very well,” says the younger of the two Marquez brothers. In the last of his total four Gresini years, Alex Marquez now has current factory material from Ducati for the first time.
“Compared to the start of the season, we have successively improved the bike in several steps. We understand the bike better now and can exploit the potential. Honestly, before arriving here [in Silverstone], I expected Aprilia to be further ahead. But in fact, we were close to them. That makes me happy,” says Alex Marquez.
It is also no surprise to Marc Marquez that he did not fare as well as his younger brother at the Silverstone weekend. After P9 in the sprint and P7 in the Grand Prix, the MotoGP title defender in the Ducati factory team said: “Even last year, when I was at the peak of my performance, Alex was faster than me on this track.”
“In the sprint and also in the main race, he was faster than me back then. Okay, I had that strange race,” Marc Marquez recalls the 2025 British Grand Prix, “but Alex was already extremely strong and simply faster than me. Well, and now he has the same bike as I do.”
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