Marc Márquez arrives at Lusail for the Qatar Grand Prix with the chance to secure his eighth MotoGP title and his 10th world championship overall. The family dimension will be missing from the grid, however: Alex Márquez is due to undergo shoulder surgery after the Malaysian race and will sit out the Qatar round.

At Sepang, Marc started from second and moved past his brother at the first corner. The Gresini Racing rider remained behind him for several laps during the opening half of the race, before Marc began to build a gap. Pedro Acosta then passed Alex, who finished third ahead of Ai Ogura. It was Alex’s final race before the shoulder operation that will keep him out of Qatar.

The sequence brought renewed attention to Alex’s level of aggression when Marc is the rival on the other side of the fight. Marc offered another explanation, saying that Alex had considered his own interests and managed the risks involved. In Marc’s view, that is a normal approach when a brother is competing for the world championship.

Marc argued that a rider should not launch an unnecessary attack on his brother when that rider is fighting for a world title. The situation is even more delicate, he added, because both Márquez brothers compete for Ducati.

With a humorous edge, Marc Márquez said that anyone making such a reckless move against his brother would be a “bad brother” and should call to apologise. Marc has nine world titles already; in Qatar, he can move to 10 overall and claim his eighth in the premier class.