Marc Marquez rides “more fairly” with Alex; “On his heels, makes him nervous”

Marc Marquez rides “more fairly” with his brother Alex Marquez than other MotoGP rivals, it has been claimed.

The brothers have dominated the opening two rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season.

Eight-time world champion Marc, on a factory Ducati, has won both sprints and both grands prix in Thailand and Argentina.

Alex, on a year-old Ducati with Gresini, has been his closest competition even ahead of factory teammate Francesco Bagnaia.

Alex threatened victory in Sunday’s main race in Argentina when his older brother made a small error to let him overtake.

Marc Marquez 'more fair' with Alex Marquez

TNT Sports’ Michael Laverty said about the Lap 5 pass: “Marc made a mistake and opened the door. Alex had to take it. Marc didn’t feel good with the rear tyre. He struggled to stop the bike.”

Marc then wobbled on Lap 16, and Laverty analysed: “He said that he was more careful than ever. He tried to turn aggressively at lean angle, so he’s more upright to drive to the last turn.

“But the rear tyre wasn’t giving him the same sensations as it did during qualifying. It’s sometimes the case that it takes a long while to kick in. At the end, it seemed that he had grip.

“At this point he was thinking ‘I don’t have enough grip to cleanly pass my brother’.”

Marc failed in an overtake attempt to reclaim the lead on Lap 19.

It was evidence of a more cautious approach, while battling his brother, than he has shown in the past against other rivals.

“He released the front brake to avoid contact,” Laverty said. “The next time around, he knew how to execute it better.

“He rode more fairly with Alex than he would with anyone else on the grid.

“But he was still calculating. He had the wherewithal to let go of the brake, not risk tucking the front, let Alex through, then go again.”

Marc Marquez 'nervous' claim

Finally, Marc edged past Alex and converted it into a second grand prix win in a row.

“He got a better run through Turn 1, he did via the slipstream,” Laverty analysed.

“He pulled out of the draft, braked alongside Alex momentarily, it slingshots you through the turn.

“All of the hard work was done through 3, then run through the kink at 4, set it up on the brakes at Turn 5.

“It’s the Marquez brothers show but there’s a long way to go, a lot can change.”

However, the threat of Alex Marquez should not be ignored.

Even Marc has acknowledged that his younger brother is competitive enough to earn race wins from him in the near future.

“There’s an argument to say Alex was stronger for three quarters of the race,” Laverty said.

“The medium wasn’t working for Marc.

“As the race progressed, he figured it out. Maybe the tyre did kick in for him and he extracted his Termas magic, because this is a happy hunting ground for him.

“The fact that Alex was right on his heels will probably make him nervous.

“The next track is a Marc circuit but then we go to Europe. Marc isn’t fantastic there, at Jerez Pecco beat him in a head-to-head. It could change a bit there.

“He is slightly concerned about Alex but also loving that it’s a one-two for the brothers.”

Marc leads the MotoGP standings on 74 points, 16 ahead of Alex.

The third round of the championship is at the Circuit of the Americas on March 28-30, another track that Marc is famous for excelling at.