Why is Marc Marquez so serious?

The restraint Marc Marquez has shown while celebrating his last two sprint podiums has led many to wonder about the reason behind his serious expression. The explanation lies in his explicit desire to avoid sharp swings in his adrenaline levels, allowing him to conserve his energy throughout a grand prix weekend.

Marquez’s attitude has changed as much as his daily routine since the succession of operations on his right arm. For years now, he has devoted particular attention to one of the parts of the body most heavily relied upon when riding a MotoGP bike – and by far the one that has taken the most punishment.

He insists that the 10th world title he is fighting for will not change his life, even though he has never made as many sacrifices as he is making now to achieve a goal. Following his latest operation on his right shoulder, a direct consequence of the crash he suffered in Indonesia last year after being taken out by Marco Bezzecchi at the start, the Spaniard has once again had to reset his training routine and personal preparation to be in a position to respond to the challenge posed by Aprilia and its two riders, Jorge Martin and Bezzecchi, with whom he appears set to fight for the title all the way to the end.

The “reconfigurations” he had previously gone through had been focused specifically on the physical side. This latest one, however, goes beyond the body and reaches into the emotional sphere.

The change became particularly visible on the podiums of the last two sprint races, in Austria and Japan. On Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, after finishing second, Marquez looked almost impassive as he received his commemorative medal. He appeared serious when, on paper, there was little reason for him to be: after clawing back more than 100 points on the championship leader, he was second in the standings, just three points behind Martin.

For those who noticed it, the mystery only deepened this Saturday at Motegi, immediately after Marquez won his seventh sprint of the season. Those who had concluded that his lack of emotion at the Red Bull Ring was simply because he had failed to win were left without an explanation in Japan, where he had enjoyed a demanding but ultimately perfect weekend in terms of the haul achieved: his fifth double of the season, his fourth in the last six rounds of a calendar that is now tightening up, and one in which he sits just two points behind Martin at the top.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

For everyone watching the podium ceremony after the Saturday race, the #93’s measured body language was impossible to miss, to the point where it warranted asking him about it directly.

“After finishing second in the sprint in Austria, you could think that you weren’t completely satisfied and that was why you didn’t celebrate the result. But here you’ve won, and you’re still serious. There’s something we’re missing,” Motorsport.com asked him.

“I’m not being serious, I’m saving energy,” Marquez replied, referring to the approach he has embraced since the recovery of his right shoulder, after the summer, reached a point where it is unlikely to improve much further.

From that point onwards, around the time of the British Grand Prix in August, one of the Catalan rider’s main obsessions has been to maximise his energy during the period stretching from Friday, when promotional activities usually begin, through to Sunday afternoon, when the race ends.

From his own experience, the physical toll is enormous, but the mental one is also significant in such a tightly packed programme, in which riders already have to go out on track with the knife between their teeth from Friday practice onwards.

“It’s not that laughing is tiring; what is tiring, and very tiring, is the changes in emotions. Winning doesn’t make my attitude change, I remain focused,” Marquez said after winning the sprint at Motegi.

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team, Diogo Moreira, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“Physically, you can handle it because we are prepared to ride a bike and, for example, a test day in Malaysia is much harder in that respect. But during grands prix, the adrenaline rises a lot, and then it suddenly drops.”

Since sprints were introduced in 2023, Saturdays have become the most stressful day for competitors, who have to tackle qualifying in the morning and the Sprint in the afternoon. The main course of the weekend, however, remains reserved for Sunday.

“You have to go into qualifying, and your adrenaline goes up. But when it’s over, obviously, it comes back down. And then the same thing happens in the sprint,” Marquez explained, before offering the key to understanding his composure on Saturday podiums.

“What takes a lot of energy are those ups and downs emotionally. Because after an adrenaline peak comes a low. And that’s what I’m trying to control, so that the line remains as stable as possible.”

At a time when Liberty Media has begun implementing changes to the internal structure of MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group (MGPSEG), the championship is moving towards a new era in which the aim is to maximise the spectacle.

According to the promoter’s executives, that includes initiatives such as the one staged on Sunday morning, when a kart race was organised at the Motegi circuit and the entire MotoGP grid was invited to take part.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Marquez sent a body double while he was applying ice to his arm, which had been put under additional strain after he decided to extend the warm-up from 10 to 20 minutes in order to test the hard rear tyre that nobody had used up to that point and which ultimately became the widespread choice.

“I was treating my shoulder with ice; I couldn’t go. At these moments, you have to be selfish and perform at your best when it matters, which is during the races,” he explained afterwards.

It is another example of the approach that has led him to preserve his energy as much as possible and concentrate it where he believes it matters most.

It remains to be seen how that philosophy will fit with the new weekend format coming into force next year, which will be marked by the introduction of a second qualifying session specifically for the sprint.