Marc Marquez makes ominous “young people” comparison with Lewis Hamilton

Marc Marquez's move to Ducati for the 2025 MotoGP season and Lewis Hamilton's switch to Ferrari for the upcoming F1 campaign could hardly have been better synchronised.

The comparisons are clear, as Marquez is the fourth-most-victorious rider in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, while Hamilton is more successful than anyone in the similarly long history of F1.

They are, though, comparisons that Marquez himself is wary of.

“I can't make such a comparison but we are both riders with a lot of experience,” Marquez said, speaking to Sky Sport Italy.

“The latter counts but the young people also arrive who push and go fast. You can compare the fact that we are both red, both us [Ducati] and Ferrari.”

The similarities between Hamilton’s beginning at Ferrari and Marquez’s at Ducati are not limited to colours, experience, and age relative to their teammates, though – on the day Marquez partook in the Ducati Lenovo Team launch at Madonna di Campiglio, Hamilton had his first day at the Ferrari factory in Maranello.

In truth, though, Marquez’s experience with the engineers of Ducati – at least in a co-operative sense – extends back to the end of 2023 when he rode one of the Bologna brand’s bikes for the first time in his first test as a Gresini Racing rider.

By now, Marquez is familiar with the factory’s working methods, so the adaptation is to the Ducati Lenovo Team itself rather than Ducati Corse, and the Spaniard said that the relationship so far is developing well.

“Very good,” he said, “at the moment everything is precise. You can't make the comparison between people you've known for 10 years with those you've known for 3 months, but I'm very happy.

“Last year it was perfect at the Gresini team, this year the factory team was needed to make a further leap. When you have the bike and you're in the reference team, it's all in your hands.”

Bagnaia “will definitely be in front”

Marquez’s move to Ducati also differs from Hamilton’s in that, while Charles Leclerc is a talented driver and a Grand Prix winner, Francesco Bagnaia is a three-times World Champion and the most successful MotoGP rider of the past five seasons.

So, while the eight-times World Champion is sure he will be one of the protagonists of the upcoming season, he doesn’t yet want to place himself ahead of his new teammate, who has built the team around himself since he joined in 2021.

“For me, Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] will surely be in front, because in the last four years he has won two World Championships and finished second twice,” Marquez said.

“He always fought until the end, so he will be the reference since he finished second in the championship. I am the second reference in the garage since I finished third in the standings.”

While tensions are surely expected to rise between the two later in the year as the championship battle begins and then intensifies, for now Marquez is content with his currently cordial relationship with Bagnaia.

"Beautiful, it must be beautiful,” Marquez said to describe his present relationship with his new teammate.

“I speak for myself: when you are 20 you do not have the same approach as when you are 32, you are more mature and you think differently.

“I know that on the track everyone does their part, we both want to win. As Gigi [Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse general manager] said, we want the Riders’, Constructors', and Teams' Championships.

“So if one doesn't win, the other has to win.”