Marc Marquez may be keeping his cards close to his chest, but his body language is telling a different story. The eight-time world champion hasn't said much publicly about Ducati's early-season struggles, but insiders suggest he's quietly worried about how quickly the team can close the gap to Aprilia.
Ducati has stumbled out of the gates in 2025, with the factory team still searching for its first Grand Prix podium after four rounds. The only Ducati riders to reach the podium so far have been Alex Marquez of Gresini and Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46—both on satellite teams. For a manufacturer with championship aspirations, that's a worrying sign.
Marquez's own campaign has been a mix of promise and heartbreak. At the Spanish Grand Prix, he was running second and had just lost the lead to his brother Alex when a crash ended his race. It was yet another missed chance to improve on his best finish of the season—a fourth-place result in Brazil. The crash also widened his deficit to championship leader Marco Bezzecchi to 44 points, the largest gap he's ever faced at this stage of a season.
To put that in perspective, the only other times Marquez has faced such a steep climb after four rounds were in 2015 and 2024. Both seasons ended with him finishing third overall—behind Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi in 2015, and on a year-old Ducati in 2024. History suggests that when Marquez falls this far behind early, the title slips away.
Early in 2025, Marquez struggled to get comfortable with the front end of the Ducati GP26. But after Monday's post-race test at Jerez, he struck an upbeat tone, saying he believes Ducati can turn things around and challenge Aprilia for the championship. On the surface, he's the picture of confidence.
But according to Italian publication MOW, Marquez's words and his eyes don't match. While he sounded "super confident" and made "optimistic" comments, observers noted that his gaze suggested something else entirely. "His eyes didn't match his words," they reported, hinting that something might be bothering the Spaniard behind his composed exterior.
What that something is remains unclear. Marquez insists he feels "normal" now and even arrived at Jerez in his best physical shape since undergoing shoulder surgery last October—an injury that hampered his early-season performances. Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali later admitted the injury was "more serious" than the team first realized, after Marquez was taken out by Bezzecchi on the opening lap of the Indonesian Grand Prix.
For now, Marquez is saying all the right things. But as any seasoned MotoGP fan knows, sometimes a rider's silence—or a single glance—can speak volumes. If Ducati can't find a way to match Aprilia's pace soon, those quiet concerns may become very loud indeed.