MotoGP, Pernat crowns Marquez: “He won with his head, not with the bike”

The Ligurian manager rekindles the debate over the 2025 Ducati and the absolute value of the Spanish superstar

In the MotoGP paddock, just a few words are enough to change the tone of the discussions. Carlo Pernat knows this well and, once again, has hit the mark. His comments on the World Championship won by Marc Marquez have fired up the debate among fans and insiders, especially because of the direct reference to the Ducati 2025.

According to the Italian manager, in fact, the title won by the Spanish world champion would not have come from Ducati’s absolute technical superiority, but from the number 93’s ability to turn a difficult bike into a winning weapon.

“Marquez won with his head” is the idea that strongly emerges from the analyses circulating in the paddock in the last few hours. A phrase that says much more than a simple technical assessment.

Marc Marquez and Ducati: a winning but not perfect pairing

Marc Marquez’s arrival in the official Ducati team had inevitably created huge expectations. After the difficult years spent with Honda, the move to Borgo Panigale seemed destined to bring the Spaniard straight back to the centre of the world stage.

The reality, however, proved more complex than expected.

A fast but hard-to-read GP25

Throughout the 2025 season, clear signs emerged of a Ducati that was less dominant than in previous years. The GP25 proved extremely fast over a single lap, but often complicated in race management and in adapting to the different circuits on the calendar.

Francesco Bagnaia also went through difficult moments, alternating standout performances with other weekends marked by feeling issues, especially under braking and on corner entry. An aspect that fuelled rumours of a bike still far from the ideal balance.

In this scenario Marquez made the difference.

The Marquez factor: experience, instinct and pressure management

If Ducati was not impeccable, then the rider’s influence becomes even more decisive. This is the key to Pernat’s analysis, convinced that the World Championship was built above all thanks to the talent and mentality of the superstar from Cervera.

The Spanish champion’s revival

After years marked by injuries, Marc Marquez arrived in 2025 with a different motivation. The long physical suffering experienced since 2020 transformed his approach to races. Less instinctive than in the past, but much more lucid in the management of weekends.

Those who observed him closely during the season describe a rider capable of adapting quickly to the bike’s limits, finding solutions where others saw only problems.

This is where the Spaniard’s real step forward emerges. Not just pure speed, but race control, strategic reading and mental management of critical situations.

Ducati under pressure: the internal comparison with Bagnaia

The other side of the season inevitably concerns Francesco Bagnaia. The two-time world champion started as the technical benchmark for the Ducati project, but the internal comparison with Marquez progressively changed the balance inside the pits.

Bagnaia between technical difficulties and psychological pressure

Over the course of the year the Piedmontese rider often complained of a nervous bike that was hard to predict in changes of direction. The feeling of not having total control of the front end affected several key weekends, limiting consistency of results.

Marquez, by contrast, showed an almost unique ability to live with a physically demanding bike, using his aggressive style to compensate for the GP25’s limits.

A difference that, according to many paddock observers, would also have had a psychological impact within the team.

Marquez’s physical condition and the weight of the 2025 World Championship

The title takes on even more value given the physical condition with which Marc Marquez faced part of the season. In recent months, details emerged linked to the problems with his right shoulder and the consequences of the surgeries undergone in previous years.

Despite the pain and physical limitations, the Spaniard managed to maintain an extremely high level of competitiveness, once again confirming his extraordinary ability to adapt.

For this reason too, Pernat’s words are met with agreement in much of the paddock. For many technicians and insiders, in fact, Ducati’s real advantage in 2025 would not have been only the Desmosedici’s potential, but having in the team one of the strongest riders in MotoGP history.

MotoGP 2026: Ducati starts again from Marquez

Now the focus inevitably shifts to next season. Ducati will have to understand how to make the new bike more balanced and less extreme, while Marquez aims to further consolidate his role as the technical leader of the project.

Pernat’s comments, meanwhile, have already made their mark. Because in an era dominated by aerodynamics, electronics and simulations, the Ligurian manager has brought back to the centre a truth that continues to make the difference in MotoGP: the rider’s talent.

And if the Ducati 2025 really was not perfect, then the World Championship won by Marc Marquez carries even more weight.