Max Verstappen earns special praise from MotoGP champion Marc Marquez

11:55, 13 Jun

Andrew McLarney is a MotoGP reporter for GPBlog. With four years experience as a professional writer across the sports and video game industries, his experience as a K1 Premier League competitor evolved into a fascination with all forms of combat sport and eventually motorsport — with MotoGP becoming his primary focus. On top of that he is also an avid follower of MXGP and AMA Supercross as well as F1 and GT racing.

Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has piled on the praise for Max Verstappen at this weekend's Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The nine-time World Champion, who sealed another legendary comeback to claim his and Ducati's 100th win last weekend in Hungary, was invited as a special VIP guest to the F1 weekend.

In addition to getting into the cockpit of Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi and being comically mis-labelled by the F1 broadcast, Marquez also gave his thoughts on a number of the current drivers.

Speaking to DAZN ES, Marquez first of all praised his fellow countrymen, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, but recognised that they have both been limited by their machinery, which hasn't necessarily enabled either of them to display their full talents as of late:

"I would love to say Fernando Alonso, but obviously everything that Fernando has meant for Formula 1 in Spain is something impressive. I've shared many moments with Carlos Sainz too, he certainly has no shortage of talent."

"We are simply in a world where it's not just the athlete or the driver in this case who depends on him, but there's a car, there's a motorcycle, there's an infrastructure behind it all, and all of this has to add up,"

However, the driver above all who Marquez identifies with is none other than Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen:

"But the one I love for his grit, for what he brings to the track, is Max Verstappen. For me, he's a beast. I grew up watching him because we're from the same generation, but I remember being little and watching Fernando Alonso, and now the Verstappen generation... I feel a connection."

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

More similarities than one between Verstappen and Marquez

Both Marquez and Verstappen have a good relationship going back a number of years. The pair have both been Red Bull sponsored athletes for the majority of their careers, with Marquez only recently abandoning the sponsor due to signing with Ducati in 2025.

Over the years, the pair have taken part in multiple Red Bull events together, including a Go-Kart race in which they acted as teammates - unsurprisingly obliterating the rest of the field which was made up of F1, MotoGP and MXGP competitors.

However, it's not just sponsorship deals that the two have in common. Both Marquez and Verstappen are known for their fierce and aggressive styles, a win-or-crash mentality which has reaped no fewer than 11 World Championships between them.

Earlier in the year, MotoGP legend Casey Stoner also made the comparison with how Marquez and Verstappen are able to manage races in a similar way, always managing to keep some extra tyre in reserve when others have typically burned them out.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	90
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	88
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	60
6	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	58
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	43
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	29
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	26
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	26
11	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	15
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	13
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Max Verstappen earns special praise from MotoGP champion Marc Marquez

More similarities than one between Verstappen and Marquez

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