Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez has reached incredible heights with Ducati in the 2025 MotoGP season. He has been almost unstoppable since moving to the factory team from Gresini over the winter.
Enea Bastianini was surprised by Marquez’s signing, with the Spaniard replacing him at Ducati. But the 32-year-old has silenced any critics in 2025, with eight Grand Prix wins and 11 Sprint wins to his name already.
He has an eye-watering 120-point lead over his brother Alex Marquez and is a further 48 points ahead of teammate Francesco Bagnaia. The Italian has struggled to adapt to the Desmosedici GP25, while Marquez has had no trouble stepping up from the GP23.
His unbelievable talent has vindicated Ducati’s decision to sign him and he is more than deserving of his high salary. Marquez is earning £10m a season at the Borgo Panigale outfit, and he is bringing in a significant fee in bonuses.
Marc Marquez has earned £1.5 million from Ducati in performance bonuses thus far in 2025
While Marquez is not the highest-paid rider on the MotoGP grid – that title belongs to Fabio Quartararo at Yamaha – and he is on less money than he was at Honda, performance bonuses put the Ducati rider at the top of the table and by some distance.
Journalist Markus Zorweg says that the Spaniard has earned a staggering 1.76 million euros (roughly £1.5m) from the opening 12 rounds of the season. Given his current form, he is certain to earn even more come the end of the year.
“Marc Marquez is currently far from the sums he earned at Honda in its heyday. That was 25 million (roughly £21.7m) per year in his last contract,” he said via the Motorsport-Magazin Motorrad YouTube channel.
“So currently, he is said to earn around nine million euros (£7.8m) in basic salary annually at Ducati, which puts him well behind the top earners in terms of basic salary.
“But basic salary is only one thing. A success bonus is something else entirely, and of course, Marquez [in] 2025 is making a killing.
“150,000 euros (£130k) for every Grand Prix win, 80,000 euros (£69k) for a second place, 40,000 euros (£35k) for a third place, 40,000 euros for every Sprint win.
“If you put them together, we get eight Grand Prix wins, one second place, one third place and 11 Sprint wins, which comes to a whopping 1.76 million (£1.5m) euros that Marquez has earned.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
Marc Marquez set to be MotoGP’s highest earner in 2025 with performance bonuses
With a current average of 147,000 euros (£127k) being earned per weekend, Marquez would bring in roughly £2.8m for the season if it stays like that for the rest of the season.
On top of that, Zorweg says that the Ducati rider will also earn 3 million euros (£2.6m) for winning the title. With that looking very likely, Marquez could be looking to bring in close to £15 million for 2025, which would make him the highest-paid rider on the grid.
No one could argue with that figure, given the 32-year-old’s form. Carlo Pernat says Ducati went against their ‘brand’ by signing Marquez, as they are known for ‘developing’ champions, but their decision to bring him in cannot be questioned.
Ducati are almost certain to wrap up both titles in 2025 and look in a strong position to do so again in 2026. Interestingly, Johann Zarco fears Luigi Dall’Igna more than Marquez, as he sees him as the spearhead of the operation; he is determined for Honda to outfox him.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
