Marc Marquez admits he ‘pushed too much’ for Germany MotoGP sprint win

Marc Marquez admits he pushed “too much” to win the 2025 MotoGP German Grand Prix sprint as it was “a day to think about the championship” and “finish second”.

The Ducati rider ended Friday cautioning the media that a wet Saturday at the Sachsenring would force him to consider his championship position when determining what risks to take.

Having qualified on pole, Marc Marquez went on to win the 15-lap sprint at the German Grand Prix, but had to fight back from fifth after running wide at the start.

He took the lead again on the final lap to win his 10th sprint this season and extend his championship lead to 78 points.

Marquez says a lack of tyre temperature at the start meant he considered finishing off the podium, but was able to push more a few laps in.

“Of course, that first corner complicated everything, especially because the first two, three laps the feeling was not good,” he told motogp.com.

“I was struggling a lot with the tyre temperature, and that also created a bit the mistake of the first corner.

“I went in and I saw that the bike was locking a lot, moving a lot and I decided to go wide, to lose some positions but stay in the race - which was the most important thing.

“The first two laps I was struggling, I said ‘ok, today it’s time to finish fifth, sixth, fourth’.

“But then in one point the tyres were in the correct temperature and I started to feel the bike, I felt the transition with the bike and then I started to attack - maybe too much.

“Because now we are happy, but second position was also enough. But my instinct said ‘try to win’.”

He added: “As I said, today was a day to think about the championship.

“For that reason it was a day to finish second, for example. But I’m like this. I try to control it, I try to work on myself to control everything but sometimes just you need to try to follow you instinct.

“But I think Gigi [Dall’Igna] enjoys this; he has the mentality of a rider. So, this victory is for him because today is his birthday.”

There was a second big moment for Marquez during the sprint after overtaking Fabio Quartararo for second on lap nine.

Going through Turn 2 he nearly lost the rear, and admits he thought at that moment “it’s time to fly”.

Explaining the moment, he said: “That was close, especially because when I overtook Fabio in Turn 1 I jumped into Turn 2 a bit closer and then I tried to be in the same line, the same speed, but I went in closer.

“So, I forced more the lateral grip and then I missed the rear grip. In one moment I said ‘ok, it’s time to fly’ but I stayed on the bike.”

Marquez is now the first rider in the sprint era to win 10 of the half-distance races in a single season, with the Ducati star inside the top two in all 11.

“Last year my weak points were Saturdays,” he said.

“Now this year it’s my strongest point. I worked a lot in the winter to improve those Saturdays. It’s true that this bike helps a lot.

“Last year’s bike, the 2023, on the time attack, on the sprint race distance where you push the front a lot, I was struggling a lot. But the GP25 is working super good.”