Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is fully expected to extend his Ducati contract. Based on the 2025 season, there is no reason to leave.
Marquez won 11 races and 14 Sprints, wrapping up the title with five races to spare. It’s difficult to imagine anyone in motorsport changing teams while enjoying that level of dominance.
The upcoming rule changes for 2027 do bring an element of uncertainty, though. Ducati have ruled MotoGP in the 2020s but the pecking order is likely to change at the beginning of the 850cc era.
As the most desirable asset, Marquez was expected to be the first mover in the rider market, but in the end, it was Fabio Quartararo’s agreement with Honda that sparked silly season into life.
MotoGP ‘rumours’ suggest Marc Marquez wants ‘one-plus-one’ deal at Ducati
It’s possible that riders like Quartararo and the Yamaha-bound Jorge Martin already caught wind of Marquez’s intentions before choosing their next team.
But while the world champion renewing his deal is regarded as a formality, negotiations may have been more complex than expected.
Simon Patterson of The Race has heard ‘rumours’ that Marquez would prefer to sign a one-plus-one contract rather than commit for two years. That would give him the option to leave at the end of 2027.
Given their unrivalled resources and positive trajectory, Honda are well-fancied for next year. Marquez may be open to a 2028 comeback if they live up to that hype.
Finish the sentence: Marc Marquez’s final MotoGP team will be…
“I don’t know where it’s coming from, but it’s floating around, it’s happening,” Patterson said. “There’s a suggestion that the delay is that Marc is pushing for a one-plus-one contract, not for a two-year deal, which fits with his slight unhappiness about silly season moving so early.
“That would be a counter to a very silly season that only he has the power to mandate for right now. If he did it, others could probably do it too.
“I bet you that Quartararo has heard the rumours that Marc is pushing for it and kicking himself a little bit that he hasn’t thought about it, but I think he’s looking at the Honda project and looking at how it’s developing and looking at the fairytale ending that would be going back to Honda.
“We’re back to square one where that bike is turning his head a little bit and he doesn’t want to commit to two years on a red bike when the other one is there, enticing him back to do the dream.
‘He’s not going to be a Valentino Rossi’ – Marc Marquez may have a Honda retirement plan
Patterson thinks Marquez would ‘retire on the spot’ if he returned to Honda and won another title in their colours. His great rival, Valentino Rossi, continued racing in MotoGP until he was 42, by which point he had fallen to 18th in the championship.
When do you think Marc Marquez will retire from MotoGP?
Marquez says he will retire when he’s no longer the fastest rider, so the timeline is ambiguous for the moment. The second oldest on the 2026 grid behind Johann Zarco, he’s preparing for his 33rd birthday next week.
“I’m convinced that if he signed a one-year contract with Ducati, won the championship with them in ’27, went back to Honda, won the championship with them in ’28, he’d quit,” said Patterson. “He’d retire on the spot. I’m certain of that.
“He’s not going to be a Valentino Rossi that hangs around longer than he should. He will go out when he’s on top.”
Ducati are signing Pedro Acosta to fill their second seat. The hope is that he can become the team’s leader when Marquez eventually moves on.
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