Ducati will be ‘forced’ to break their ‘salary policy’ to keep Marc Marquez after hearing his demands

Add as preferred source on Google

The 2026 MotoGP season is set to bring chaos to the rider market, and Marc Marquez could be at the centre of it.

Several riders’ deals expire next season, which marks the end of the current two-year contract cycle. Having signed with Ducati in 2024, Marquez will be a free agent in 2026.

The Ant of Cervera is back to his best in MotoGP after winning his seventh premier class title in 2025. Marquez has won 25 races this season, including Sprints, wrapping up the championship at Motegi.

He has been utterly unstoppable this year, with Marquez being the only rider to properly adapt to the GP25, while teammate Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio have desperately struggled. The 32-year-old will be the firm favourite for the title in 2026.

Marquez is currently recovering from injury after sustaining ligament damage to his right collarbone in a crash at Mandalika. He will be focused on returning to form in 2026, and Ducati will be desperate to keep him.

Ducati will be ‘forced’ to break their multi-million pound ‘salary policy’ to keep Marc Marquez

As per a report from Motosan, the Borgo Panigale outfit’s ‘dependence on Marquez comes at the worst possible time’. The MotoGP rider market is set to be a ‘seismic event’ in 2026, with several changes possible.

This puts Ducati at risk of losing their star rider at a time where his teammates cannot be close to him and Aprilia are starting to close the gap. Luigi Dall’Igna is ‘savouring’ his time with Marquez as he knows it could be over soon.

With his dominance in 2025, Marquez is in ‘complete control of his destiny’ and is Ducati’s ‘most sought-after asset’. The Borgo Panigale outfit will be forced to break their ‘salary policy’, which moves away from multi-million pound contracts, to keep the Spaniard.

Evidently, Marquez’s current contract already exceeds Ducati’s wage structure, as does Bagnaia’s, with the former earning £10m-a-year. With this report, one would imagine that the manufacturer would have to fork out an even bigger fee to keep the champion.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend

Carlo Pernat thinks Honda will try to encourage Marc Marquez to return in 2027

Marquez is yet to discuss a new contract with Ducati, but maybe would assume that they would want to act fast to secure his services beyond 2026. Nevertheless, rumours are already speculating what his future could look like, including an incredible return to Honda.

Speaking via MOW, Carlo Pernat thinks that the Japanese giants will try to sign Marquez in 2027. Honda won six titles with the Spaniard between 2013 and 2019, and he believes they could entice him to win with them one last time.

“In my opinion, Marc and Honda have never forgotten each other. Marquez’s contract with Ducati expires at the end of next year,” said Pernat.

“They’ll probably try to renew it as early as the beginning of 2026, but wouldn’t Honda try to give him a call and perhaps entice him, encouraging him to end his career by winning for the last time, or the last times, where he won for the first time?

“Honda is currently the only manufacturer without a top rider, and it’s an industrial giant that could put figures on the table that even someone who no longer cares about money, like Marc Marquez, wouldn’t be able to refuse. But maybe I, being from Genoa, am a little biased on this.”