MotoGP, Argentina Day 3, Debriefing Alex Marquez (Ducati/2): "This question is disrespectful to me!", etc. (Full)

This press conference of the Argentine Grand Prix MotoGP 2025 who brought together Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez et Franco Morbidelli for their debriefing, also confirms the 4th double of the Marquez brothers in four races.

Behind his brother Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez has made a wonderful start to the season, but the man who is often considered the ideal son-in-law is also capable of raising his voice when he is implicitly accused of being submissive to the latter...

As usual, we report here in full the words of the latter, without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Grand Prix press conference here at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, following the YPF Energy Argentinian Grand Prix. After Thailand, the opening round, it's a bit of the same feeling, as we once again have the Marquez 1-2. Congratulations to Ducati Lenovo Team rider Marc Marquez!
Marc, winner of the Sprint and Grand Prix for the second race in a row, claimed his 90th Grand Prix victory today, tying him with Spanish legend Angel Nieto for third place on the all-time Grand Prix winners list. Congratulations again, Marc, you've achieved a fantastic feat! BK8 Gresini Racing rider Alex Marquez took second place and gave it his all during the 25-lap race here in Termas. Congratulations, Alex, another podium for you in 2025! And it's great to welcome Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team rider Franky Morbidelli, his first podium with the team and his first in four long years since 2021. Congratulations, Franky! Gentlemen, well done to all three of you!

Second place is occupied by BK8 Gresini Racing rider Alex Marquez. Alex, we just heard what Marc said about how you put him under pressure today. Another fantastic weekend for you, second in the Sprint, second in the Grand Prix. You must have felt that at some point, that first victory was going to come your way today…
Alex Marquez : "Yes, as Marc said, to match Angel you have to earn it, so I imagine him saying on TV "What a good thing!".
For sure it was a super nice race. I tried to push from the beginning, I had a good start, Pecco attacked me in Turn 6 but I was able to come back to 2nd place, and you know, at the beginning I felt really good and it was really nice. I doubted a lot at the beginning of the race, before I started the race, sorry, for the tire choice. I mean I was really there with question marks, but at the end I decided to be like Marc and Pecco, with a medium rear tire. When Marc made a little mistake in the first turn, I decided to take the lead of the race and I said to myself: "OK, I'll go for it."I tried to get into a good rhythm. I was able to open up a gap to the second group, and later, when they attacked me in Turn 5, I said: "OK, it's time to attack, it's time to try.". So I gave it 100%, I did 38.3, but he managed to do 38.2, so I said to myself " OK ! ». You know, I was really on the limit, I almost crashed in every corner, so I said “OK, accept second place, but try to fight with him and try to be there.”. But you know, he was able to be more on the limit in the last part of the race, and I'm a little bit more nervous, so we have to improve. But like I said, I'm very happy, not only today, but for the whole weekend."

How are you feeling right now, Alex? Because as we know, Marc is a great world champion. It's clear that he's riding at an incredible level right now, happy on the new Ducati GP25, but you were his closest rival in the Sprint in Thailand, his closest rival throughout this weekend as well in Argentina, so you must be very happy with your current level right now...
“Yeah, I mean this is the moment I feel strongest in MotoGP. I feel like this bike suits me really well, with my riding style, with everything that it takes. So I'm enjoying the bike every lap I do, it's like I'm enjoying it, like I'm playing with the bike, and that's something really great. So yeah, we have to keep it up. The team is doing a great job, and the support from Ducati is great, so you know, we still need to understand some things from Marc, but here we're closer, and it's super nice to fight with your brother for the win.”

Alex, with what you've seen in the first two races, are there places now this year where you're looking at thinking you have absolutely the whole package, all the tools, to win at those tracks?
“I mean, yes, we were able to be very fast in Thailand and also here. But it’s true that these are circuits that have already suited me very well in the past. But yes, I feel I have the confidence to be competitive at all circuits. We have to see how competitive we can be at other circuits. I mean, I always think, and I’ve said it, that we have to take a small step forward compared to Marc, but here we are closer than in Thailand, where he was like in another world. Here we are closer to him at a circuit that suits him well and is also one of my favorites. So we have to move forward race by race, without thinking about the future. Now we have to take advantage of this, later on from Tuesday, I will focus on Austin, and you know, to try to give my 100% from Friday to Sunday, to score the maximum points for the championship and to go step by step.” And if we do that, if we do that, if we don't think too far ahead, we can do a good job."

The question is a bit difficult because Marc says that today you were faster than him. He took a lot of risks to win the race, but I think it's at this point in history that the two brothers will start to fight really hard. How difficult is it for you to break the respect you have for Marc Marquez, not only the driver, but also your own brother?
“I’ve been asked several times about when I’ll lose respect for Marc, or something like that, like ‘you respect Marc too much,’ or something like that. That question is disrespectful to me! You know, I’m a driver, I always give 100%, I try to push for my team, for my sponsor, for all that. I know he’s my brother and I get extra respect when I overtake him. But I’m the first one who wants to beat him and wants to defeat him. But I’m more realistic than everyone else because I know how Marc is, I know his strengths and I have no problem saying it. I mean, maybe when you’re a rival you don’t directly say what you think about your rival who’s doing a really good job, but he’s my brother, so I have no problem saying it. And I have no problem accepting that he’s better than me in some aspects.” So I'm going to try to learn, I'm going to try to give my 100% as always, but stop thinking that I have too much respect for Marc! We saw it today, we fought against each other, he was faster than me, and I gave my 100%, so I'm happy with second place. I know he's better than me in some areas and I'm going to try to improve for the future."

With today's roaring crowd, how important is it to come back here next year?
“You know, I've loved Argentina since the first year we came here. And you know, as Marc said, we need a lot of markets. We need to be in Brazil, and next year we need to be here. We need to open all that up, have more races, maybe in America and all that. So we need to be in a lot of countries to allow fans to enjoy the spectacle that is MotoGP.”