Marc Marquez offers cheeky response to F1’s ‘former rider’ gaffe

MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has indicated that he is unlikely to switch to four-wheeled racing in the future a week on from a TV graphics mistake at the F1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

The nine-time world champion was able to attend the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last weekend (12–14 June) where he spent time in the Audi pit box and was shown on TV with a graphic describing him as a ‘former MotoGP rider’ only a week on from his victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Marquez posted to his Instagram story lightheartedly acknowledging the gaffe, and joked about it again in the pre-event press conference ahead of the Czech MotoGP this weekend (19–21 June).

“I know that in F1 it said [on the TV graphic] ‘Former MotoGP rider’,” Marc Marquez joked when asked if he would consider switching to four-wheel racing in the future.

Marquez drove an F1 car back in 2016 at the Red Bull Ring when he and his then-team-mate Dani Pedrosa took part in a track day with the 2012 Red Bull car. 

The Ducati Lenovo Team rider has never competed in car racing, but he has raced outside of MotoGP back when he would race the Superprestigio flat track race in Spain during the off-season.

He says that a race “for fun” could be possible in the future, but he accepts that making the switch from motorcycle racing in his mid-30s would not allow him to be competitive at the highest level.

“But if you want to be competitive in four wheels– you can be good, you can be okay, but if you want to be competitive… I have a big respect for F1 drivers and it’s impossible. 

“Maybe some races for fun in other categories, in lower categories, you never know, why not? 

“But never in F1 because the level is super-high.”

Marquez enters this weekend’s Czech MotoGP trailing championship leader Marco Bezzecchi by 72 points in the riders’ standings. Brno is a circuit he’s won at four times in the premier class, including last year when the historic Czech venue returned to the world championship calendar after four years away.