It’s “logical” Bagnaia has first say but Ducati will treat everyone equally

Marc Marquez feels it’s only “logical” that Francesco Bagnaia will have first say in matters at Ducati, but is confident the Borgo Panigale marque will give him equal treatment in MotoGP this year.

Marquez is joining a Ducati team where team-mate Bagnaia is already the top dog, with the double champion having scored the factory’s first world titles since Casey Stoner in 2007 and helped cement its status as MotoGP’s dominant marque.

This is a massive shift for incoming Marquez, who was previously the poster boy of Honda’s MotoGP programme and led the development of the RC213V according to his riding style.

The six-time champion is aware that Bagnaia has established himself at Ducati and is already its most successful rider in history – but is convinced the squad will uphold the values on which it has built its current success.

“I know where I’m arriving, I know which garage I’m arriving in,” he said at the team’s 2025 bike launch in Italy.

“I’m arriving in the reference garage, where there’s an established rider [Bagnaia] inside the garage. There’s a rider with more experience inside the garage who has contributed a lot to Ducati and it’s logical that he has the first say.

“But in the end, [at] Ducati all the riders [are] valued equally. That’s what they’ve transmitted to me, that one or the other wins. That will be Ducati’s intention and the riders’ intention. If one doesn’t win, the other should win.”

There have been concerns about how Ducati will handle two world champions in a single team, especially as both riders have something to prove in 2025. 

Bagnaia is targeting his third title in four seasons after losing to Pramac rival Jorge Martin last year, while Marquez wants to beat Bagnaia on his turf to cement his claim as one of the greatest riders of all time.

Ducati is so far not worried about any potential fallout from Marquez joining Bagnaia in the same garage, with team manager Davide Tardozzi even saying that it would be “very easy” to manage the duo.

Marquez also doesn’t see any cause for concern, stating that Ducati will not hand number one status to any rider this year.

“One thing that is clear in a factory team is that it’s not number one and number two, it’s just the more experienced rider in the garage and the less experienced rider in the garage,” said Marquez, who spent 2024 at Ducati’s satellite team Gresini.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

“Of course, I’m also looking forward to understanding what they are doing inside the garage to be so performant [and] dominating the results a lot [in] these last years. I will try to understand, to learn about it.

“The target of the team is to try to win. If Pecco is not able to win, I will try to win. If I’m not able to win, he will try to win. 

“But when you arrive there, you need to understand the way they are working and what they are doing to win all the last years.”