Qatar never disappoints and 2025 certainly continued the streak of storylines to take place under the floodlights. Re-taking the Championship lead for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), a tyre pressure infringement for Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) after a fantastic Grand Prix and battles and differences of opinions down field, there’s plenty to digest after the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar.

“A little bit more my mistake than his”

Talking about his opening lap clash with his brother, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) spoke of the battle at the front: “The contact with Alex was a little bit more my mistake than his mistake. I just opened the gas and I felt like the rear was going, so I closed the gas and he didn’t expect it. For that reason, he hit me and Morbidelli overtook me from outside. But it was a little bit more my mistake. Luckily for both of us, we stayed on the bike. Then I arrived to the first corner and I saw a KTM. I said, ‘Acosta’, but it was Viñales. He was riding in a very good way. I was trying to understand what he was doing better. KTM also had some strong points where we can work on it. But on our bike, the balance is super good.”

“If I can do it on Sunday, I must also do it on Saturday”

Despite being promoted to P2 from P11 on the grid, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) wasn’t all smiles: “If I can do it on Sunday, I must also do it on Saturday. Yesterday was more or less like always. In the Sprint race, I cannot be aggressive in the same way. I can’t feel the same performance like I’m having on Sunday; I must improve it. Maybe we know the way to follow. It’s something that I have to improve because it’s clear that it’s one of my weak points. Apart from that, I was pushing hard to close the gap. It wasn’t easy from P11. Maybe I forced the rear a bit too much and also the fight with Franky made us lose a bit too much time. When I was there, losing and trying to get back, I was ran out of the rear tire. I tried to finish in the best way possible but it wasn’t enough to close the gap and to try to win the race.”

“I don’t care what will happen after”

Speaking before he was hit with a 16s time penalty for a tyre pressure infringement, Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) took P2 at the flag after leading laps but was asked to forecast his feelings, knowing the result may not stand: “I was just looking forward. I didn’t look at anything else. I didn’t have time. I was so concentrated to just look forward. I don’t care what will happen after. I’m happy with the result and I’m happy with the performance. We are very pleased. This is something we needed and this is achieved for the project.”

“Vale’s presence was worth it to have a great performance overall”

With ‘The Doctor’ in attendance, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) spoke of Valentino Rossi’s presence in the box: "It feels great, amazing… Vale’s presence was worth it to have a great performance overall in the whole weekend and we managed to do that, and I’m really happy. Even in the first 10 laps of the race, I was thinking about how much fun he was having watching the race and watching his bike being on top. So, I’m really satisfied with the performance of the weekend and this aftermath podium is a great ending."

“I’m very close to something top”

Talking about change and already bagging more top ten results for Honda than the entirety of 2024 combined across all riders, Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) had reason to celebrate: “I'm changing things and I'm happy that what I wanted to change is starting to pay off. So it's a good version of the new things I want to do. Maybe the best version was this feeling of being focused, just repeat what I know; the last time was in Moto2, because I never had this time again in MotoGP. I believe that making a step back with Honda from last year to rebuild something, now I have the opportunity to enjoy even more and see that I'm very close to something top.”

“I was quite clearly in front… it’s a mistake”

Analysing the incident with Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), Fabio Di Giannantonio: “Well, I was quite clearly in front and I got hit quite hard. For sure, it's not on purpose but it's a mistake. The only thing that I think is that in our level in the MotoGP World Championship, these kinds of mistakes are a bit on the limit, honestly. We can accept it maybe in Moto3. We can accept it maybe, maybe in Moto2. You can accept it maybe from a rookie in MotoGP, the first time that they’re at the front, when you are with a lot of emotions but in our level of riders, we must avoid these kinds of situations.”

“I want to say sorry to ‘Diggia’ and his team”

Owning up to responsibility for the contact with the #49, Alex Marquez responded: “On lap 3, ‘Diggia’ attacked me in Turn 10, and then I tried to attack him again in Turn 12, it was not the place, it was not the moment to make that move. I completely made a mistake. So fair, Long Lap, I accept it, I want to say sorry to ‘Diggia’ and his team. Later on, I did the Long Lap, I tried to be calm, I tried to just make my rhythm, I recovered good positions, so good points for the Championship and just keep going. There are many positive and we need to look to Jerez.”

“When we don’t have a lot of problems, we can be fast”

After dropping back in the first half of Sunday’s 22 lapper, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came back through the order for P8, with a big improvement compared to Saturday: “Much better… much better. It’s true that we need to put this like an ‘acceptable race’, not good because at the end, I was starting quite far, then the first half I passed like 14^th and was not easy to come back and have clean track and be fast. Completely the same feeling as last year... no chatter, nothing. For this, we show that when we don’t have a lot of problems, we can be fast. As I say, it’s an acceptable race; I’m happy.”

“The most difficult MotoGP weekend I’ve had in my career so far”

In contrasting fortunes to Acosta, teammate Brad Binder said: “Definitely the most difficult MotoGP weekend I've had in my career so far. No matter what we tried, just I never felt comfortable. I felt like if I didn't have massive chatter, I was washing the front. And if I wasn't washing the front, I felt like I was spinning like hell. So, I really didn't feel good at all and I struggled a lot. We tried a lot of different things, but nothing really hit the points. For some reason from the first lap here, I just felt like I had absolutely no rear grip and we didn't really find anything to make it feel normal. It is what it is and looking forward to try again at Jerez.”