Alex Marquez in Ducati red? Ducati and Marc dash those hopes

Alex Marquez established himself as the MotoGP runner-up in the 2025 season. A result beyond expectations, despite having a less updated Ducati Desmosedici compared to the factory Reds. In the next World Championship he will have the chance to fight on equal terms with his brother Marc and Pecco Bagnaia, aiming to secure a factory seat for 2027–2028.

From the very start of the 2025 MotoGP season, when Alex Marquez scored three consecutive second places in Thailand, Argentina, and the United States, everyone expected updates for his GP24. Instead, nothing ever arrived, apart from a few small tweaks towards the end of the season. Had anything come for Alex, it would also have gone to Fermin Aldeguer and Franco Morbidelli.

Thanks to his second place in the final standings and the three wins at Jerez, Barcelona, and Sepang, Ducati decided to reward him with a Desmosedici GP25 for the next championship. Even when he went through a rough patch after the injury at Assen, when he collided with Pedro Acosta, crashed again at Brno, and recorded his two worst results of the year in Austria and Hungary while still dealing with the injury, he held on to second place in the standings.

In the last seven races Alex Marquez notched two wins and five podiums, becoming an undisputed protagonist of the MotoGP class, second only to his brother Marc. And at times he even gave the MotoGP world champion a hard time!

Although Ducati was bound by an agreement with VR46, which had priority on a second fully official GP26 for 2026, the high cost of running two latest-generation bikes, combined with Morbidelli’s inconsistency, led Valentino Rossi’s team to decline the second bike.

Ducati therefore rewarded the excellent season of the younger Marquez brother, although in the end Gresini had to agree to increase its financial contribution to secure that GP26. Alex will remain a rider under contract with Gresini, while having factory equipment.

Many dream of seeing the two brothers from Cervera in the same Ducati garage in 2027, but it will be really difficult. The Borgo Panigale manufacturer insists that “it is very unlikely to happen because it doesn’t fit Ducati’s philosophy,” which is more focused on fierce competition between teammates.

Even Marc Marquez played down the idea. “Of course I’d like it, but it’s not the priority. I have to understand what is best for me from a sporting point of view and what is best for Alex, depending on the projects that might arise,” he said in an interview with El Periodico. “I’m the champion and Alex is the runner-up, so he too will have more than one offer, and then each of us will have to assess the situation selfishly. If we manage to align, I’d be overjoyed. Who could be a better teammate than your brother? But I see it as difficult: these are things you don’t force.”