Alex Marquez reveals cocky “mistake” he made at the Malaysian MotoGP
Alex Marquez says he expected an easy weekend at Sepang, which was an error
Alex Marquez admits he “made a mistake” by “expecting things to be too easy” coming into a MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix he eventually won.
The Gresini rider was fast at Sepang in pre-season testing in February, and came into this weekend’s 20th round of the campaign as a favourite to challenge for victory.
Alex Marquez admits he expected the same thing, but was caught out by a tricky Friday in which he crashed twice, while the pressure of securing second in the standings conditioned his sprint performance.
Free of that on Sunday, he dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix by over two seconds to score his third win of the season.
“It’s true that I made a mistake this weekend, expecting things to be too easy,” he said.
“Later on, when you start the weekend with a crash in FP1, again a crash in Practice, and then we passed into Q2 in P9 and a little bit on the limit.
“It was quite complicated. The conditions and the feeling with the bike changed quite a lot compared to February here.
“The tarmac, the conditions from the track, were really different. So, step by step, we turned things around in quite a good way.
“Yesterday I didn’t ride freely on the bike. I was thinking too much about closing second in the championship and not attacking Pecco [Bagnaia] in the moment that I should have done it.
“Today, the plan was clear. We improved the feeling a bit on the warm-up, and later on I was clever on the plan to attack Pedro [Acosta] in the first lap, Pecco in the second one, and then just manage the tyre to the end of the race. It was a perfect race.”
Alex Marquez “first of the losers”, but it’s “special”
The Gresini rider’s runner-up spot in the standings completes a historic year for the Marquez family, as Marc and Alex become the first brothers to finish 1-2 in the championship.
He equates this achievement to his titles in Moto3 and Moto2 for the fact that he was “almost at home” for the 2023 season before an opportunity to join Gresini from LCR Honda came along.
“It’s similar, because it’s a second place, but it’s not a normal one for me,” he said.
“My way in MotoGP was not easy from the beginning. I started in 2020 in a really good way with two podiums as a rookie at Repsol Honda.
“But moving to LCR, I suffered there for two years. I was nearly at home in ’23.
“Just a piece of luck or something like that, I had an opportunity at Gresini.
“So, for that reason, it’s really special. I’m second, I’m the first of the losers.
“But the winner is my brother, so it’s a different feeling. So, it was a perfect thing. It is special from where we are coming. So, for that reason, it’s a really good second place.”
In this article
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
Joining Crash.net in 2021 as an Editor for the Indonesian Edition, Derry oversees most of the Indonesian articles on the site.
Rachit joined the Crash.net team in 2025 with a primary focus on F1 and sportscar racing.
He previously served as a news editor at Motorsport.com, where he played a key role in the day-to-day editorial operations.
