Marc Marquez admits that his first lap clash with his brother Alex Marquez, who left damage to Ducati, was “my mistake.”
The factory Ducati rider won Sunday’s 22-lap Qatari Grand Prix with a checkered flag to complete the hat-trick for the third of the 2025 four rounds.
However, his race was almost ruined on turn 1 on the opening lap when he and his younger brother Alex Marquez came into contact with Gresini-run Ducati.
Mark Marquez lost a winglet from the rear of the bike, but the incident allowed VR46’s Franco Morbidelli to lead the outside of the pair.
Explaining what happened, Mark Marquez said:
“I closed the gas again, but he wasn’t expecting it.
“So he hit me, and Morbidelli overtook me from the outside.
“But that was my mistake. Luckily, we both stayed on the bike.”
Alex Marquez had his second collision a few laps later.
He finished seventh on the checkered flag, but was promoted to sixth when second-placed Maverick Venares was precipitated for 16 seconds due to tire pressure breach.
Di Giannantonio finished without points on the 16th.
Mark Marquez’s damage to his bike was overtaken by the likes of Vinales and Pecco Bagnaia, which initially appeared to cause problems, but he said he did not feel any rogue effects.
“No, no. I just lost the smallest wings in my seat. So I didn’t feel anything,” he said.
2025 Mark Marquez brand Qatar Grand Prix “The Most Important Weekend”
Coming to the circuit, he won only once in MotoGP, but not since 2014, he expected Mark Marquez to struggle this weekend.
However, while his Chief Leebal dropped the points, a clean sweep of pole, sprint victory and Grand Prix victory allowed him to once again take a 26-point lead in the rankings.
“I’m very happy, especially because it’s the most important weekend of the season, especially for myself,” he added.
“Thailand, Argentina and Austin were good circuits for me, so here was the first circuit I said, ‘OK, maybe I’ll have a bit of a struggle.’
“And I knew Pecco, Alex, (Fabio) Di Giannantonio and some other riders were very fast here.
“But I did a lot over the weekend. I took a step at the right corner, and this was also very important.”
Marquez says he wasn’t interested in catching up with others in the first half of the race.
“And as we see in the race, I had just managed the front tires, so I did a different strategy,” he said.
“I knew that if I did that strategy, Pecco might arrive.
“Morbidelli went, but I didn’t mind. I was in control of my front tires.
“And we had a lot of trouble on this circuit. But I was just waiting. When Pecco overtook me, I said, ‘OK, now I’m starting the race’ and started pushing more.
“In the last seven laps that overtook Binales, I tried to use a little more brakes, pushes and turns and use more front tires.