ANDREA DOVIZIOSO SAYS DUCATI’S MARC MARQUEZ GARAGE VIDEO WAS THE “WORST THING”

Andrea Dovizioso believes Ducati may have made a major tactical mistake by releasing footage of Marc Marquez discussing his arm injury in the team garage at Silverstone. Dovizioso said Marquez “has not taken it very well” after the video showed him effectively admitting he had “no control” over his right arm during the British Grand Prix, where he finished P7.

Marquez’s right arm has been a constant issue throughout 2026, with the lingering effects of a career-threatening crash at Jerez in 2020 worsening over time. Over the past six years, he has undergone seven surgeries on the arm and is still not at 100%. The seven-time champion has also suggested he no longer knows what “100%” even looks like for him, given the number of operations he has had.

Dovizioso pointed out that Marquez has generally been reluctant to talk about his injury publicly. Earlier in the year, Marquez told Ducati he tried to keep the problem a “secret,” even though he had planned surgery to remove two screws and a bone fragment from his shoulder because the screws were pressing against the radial nerve. According to the reporting, it was only after Marquez crashed out of the Sprint Race at Le Mans that he opened up to Ducati about the issues he was dealing with.

Even with that openness to the team, Marquez has still had to manage his right arm and shoulder in certain races. The source notes that he has essentially sacrificed Grands Prix at Mugello, TT Circuit Assen and Silverstone this year because those venues are too demanding for his body. After only managing P7 in the British Grand Prix in August, Marquez told Ducati he had “no control” over his right arm at Silverstone and that he risked a crash whenever he pushed.

However, Dovizioso says Marquez did not expect Ducati to then publish the garage discussion. Ahead of the Aragon Grand Prix last weekend, Marquez revealed that Ducati “caught me out” by sharing him speaking openly and honestly about his injury in the garage at Silverstone. Dovizioso argued that the release gave Marquez’s rivals a clear window into his limitations—something he believes Marquez would want to deny, particularly to riders such as Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi.

On his YouTube channel, Dovizioso said: “Physically, he’s got too many problems. It’s not that I’m insisting – it’s all too obvious.” He added that while nobody was questioning whether Marquez was going all out, it is impossible to know the exact percentage of his capability, even though the situation is visible. Dovizioso also referenced Marquez’s recent results, noting that he has never had a season during championship battles where he finished seventh or eighth, and he said Marquez’s face shows the reality more than any words.

Dovizioso’s criticism focused on the psychological and competitive impact of the footage. He said Ducati’s decision was “the worst thing you can let your opponent know,” because it shows a rider who looks devastated after suffering so much and having “no control” over his body. Dovizioso described Marquez’s expression as exhausted and said there was “no pretence,” arguing that as a strategist Marquez had tried to mask his limitations for as long as possible.

The source also outlines how Marquez’s injury situation evolved. It states that at the start of 2026 he did not ride the Ducati Desmosedici GP26 as naturally as he wanted after returning from initial shoulder surgery following his crash in Indonesia last October. It was not immediately clear that the problem was linked to the two screws from his Latarjet surgery in 2019 breaking and pressing against the radial nerve. After further complications—including surgery on his right foot’s fifth metatarsal following his Le Mans Sprint crash—Marquez underwent another shoulder operation.

He missed only the Catalan Grand Prix due to the surgeries and returned with a P7 at Mugello. He then managed another P7 at Assen, and at Silverstone he finished P9 in the Sprint due to tyre wear. Despite those struggles, the source notes that Marquez still won races on anti-clockwise circuits, taking victories at Balaton Park, Brno, the Sachsenring and MotorLand Aragon. With only Phillip Island and Valencia remaining on the calendar after Aragon, the focus remains on how much his arm can cope with the remaining demands.