Hamilton and Márquez in pursuit of the red diamond

There are meetings which bring together all the ingredients to leave a profound mark on the history of sport. We will have the chance in 2025 to see two pilots with legendary aura each in their discipline achieve a change which will have this magnitude, one of those personal challenges which have the potential to change the course of a career while going beyond the personal case of a driver capable of adding a page of choice to the great book of Formula 1 and MotoGP.

Lewis Hamilton and Marc Márquez will both be dressed in red when they take their place on the starting grid for their first Grand Prix of the season, on March 2 for the Spaniard and March 16 in the case of the Englishman, and we already know that the scope of this image will crush everything that surrounds them at that moment. The parallel is therefore obvious, chance having led the two stars, both at the head of the greatest prize list among active drivers in F1 and MotoGP, towards a challenge that is in certain points comparable.

The bridge between their two situations is not only chromatic, of course. Both have chosen to join a prestigious Italian brand, whose aura echoes that which they themselves wear. Ducati is the manufacturer which is currently revolutionizing motorcycle Grands Prix, having imposed, under the direction of Gigi Dall'Igna, a skilful boss as much as a genius engineer, technical innovations which have pushed all the other brands to follow the movement. A manufacturer, too, which has implemented a sporting strategy which has enabled it to multiply its successes to the point of leaving only tiny crumbs to the competition.

Ferrari does not know such domination today. On the other hand, it remains the most successful and successful team in F1 and it is a brand whose legend remains powerful, certainly unrivaled on the scale of motor sports in all disciplines combined. The Scuderia has known several times, during its uninterrupted presence over the seven decades of the Formula 1 world championship, to enlist the services of star drivers, and this is precisely what it is doing again by recruiting Hamilton, certainly Frédéric Vasseur's big move to date.

In either case, the union took place while neither Hamilton nor Márquez was experiencing the most prolific period of their careers. The Spaniard has been working for five years to get back on track, having come to a sudden halt when he had just had a record season the previous year, scoring more points than any other driver. had done so far and accumulated victories and second places with the only exception being a fall in Austin while he was in the lead. His injury, in the first race of 2020, was followed by complications, an endless convalescence and a Honda gradually in decline.

Hamilton, for his part, saw his performance curve lower in 2022 while for eight years he had chained titles and vice-champion places, with in 2021 a crown lost in the very last Grand Prix. His difficulties being more recent, their analysis is less accomplished than for the Spanish motorcycle pilot. Who knows today what they owe to a decline in personal form, an unsuitability for the current generation of single-seaters or a loss of competitiveness from Mercedes?

And then, Hamilton and Márquez are in the trough, of course, but both nevertheless returned to victory last year even though they had not won since 2021. The drought lasted 945 days for the Englishman, 1043 for the Spaniard, i.e. 56 starts for one and 38 for the other (injured several times during this period). By returning to the top of the podium, they were reassured, because even though we are multiple world champions, we still doubt it when the wind turns and success is no longer there. Aged 40 and soon to be 32 respectively, Hamilton and Márquez proved to themselves that they were still capable of beating the young talents of their sport, even if they may have believed that the train had passed when they found themselves at their lowest. .

However, if this return to victory were a physical phenomenon comparable to a wave, causing a lasting effect for the pilot, it would not have the same amplitude for both. Given his age, Hamilton is in all likelihood entering the final episode of his career. Above all, despite his two victories in 2024, obtained over a short period, his overall performances leave many questions about his level of competitiveness, or even his ability to adapt to the demands of current F1.

Marquez, for his part, had the sole objective in 2024 of proving to himself that he was still capable of performing well. A mission accomplished, but which was also coupled with another validation with immense implications: he won by having changed motorcycles and therefore succeeded in adapting to the Ducati, which will allow him to begin the 2025 championship having already removed his deepest doubts.

Marc Márquez has already reassured himself about his ability to win with Ducati.

Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

He will have one left, that of knowing how he will find his place in an official Ducati team which, today, revolves around Pecco Bagnaia, a dominant rider for 65 Grands Prix, with 29 victories in his bag (including 11 nothing than last season) and two titles. Showing himself humble, Márquez promises that his new teammate will be his reference because of his experience in this pit, but anyone who knows the fierce desire to win that drives the #93 knows that as soon as his helmet visor is lowered, he will only be pushed by his competitive spirit and nothing else.

Márquez has taken a step forward by adapting to the Ducati world

Undeniably, Márquez played it finely, with his mind permanently focused on the medium term. Completing a year of transition in the private Gresini Racing team, after obtaining the early termination of his contract with Honda, allowed him to escape the negative spiral, extremely heavy to bear, which reached its climax in 2023, but it was also a great way to discover new ways of working. Far from the rigid functioning of the Japanese manufacturer which had accompanied each of his steps in the MotoGP category, he blended wonderfully into the Latin atmosphere of a warm, family team, rediscovering a second youth which could well take him very far .

Hamilton will experience this radical change of environment this year, since it is the first time that he will race for a team not based in England. On a technical level, he will also have for the first time an engine other than Mercedes and, more broadly, will have to silence the birds of ill omen by proving his ability to adapt to his car. Like Márquez, he will join a stand in which there is an already well-established driver, in this case Charles Leclerc – a situation he already experienced in 2013 when he joined Mercedes alongside Nico Rosberg. In this process, he will be relieved to find a familiar face in the garage, that of Frédéric Vasseur, for whom he raced before F1.

For both of our two new red pilots, it is difficult to imagine such a change being planned for a short union if the mayonnaise takes hold. Hamilton has his age against him, but others have proven and continue to do so that quarantine is not prohibitive in F1. The deadline that everyone is more likely to think about, in F1 as in MotoGP, is the approach of new regulations: Hamilton will experience it with his new team since his agreement runs until at least 2026, while Márquez will have to land a contract extension to still be with Ducati in 2027, when entering the next cycle. The challenge of 2025 will therefore also be to lay the foundations for a partnership that may or may not be long-term and, if necessary, possibly constitute the last marriage of these great champions with a group leading them to retirement.

Lewis Hamilton plunges into the unknown with Ferrari.

Photo de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

The dynamics of their respective teams will also of course count in the success of the challenge faced by Hamilton and Márquez. On this point, the Spaniard really has nothing to worry about, as no one seems able to knock Ducati off its pedestal before the change in regulations expected in two years. In the case of F1, the question is more open, because even if Ferrari finished 2024 very well, it will have to confirm this dynamic over the entire championship to come.

It's been a long time now that the Scuderia has been unable to compete sustainably with the other teams contending for the title, the last season having seen it fight for the Holy Grail (among the drivers) until the end dating back to 2012 when it has been trying in vain to title one of its drivers for 18 years now. Led by McLaren and Red Bull, the competition is more intense than in MotoGP at the highest level, even if, on the motorcycle side, Ducati will have to deal with the adversity of satellite teams to whom it provides factory equipment (in the occurrence only one rider is concerned this year since the program is reduced) and that of a Jorge Martín who left to put his #1 on an Aprilia which is precisely the only one to have deprived the Desmosedici of the perfect score in 2024.

Tomorrow, Ducati will officially induct Marc Márquez as one of its official riders during its traditional Madonna di Campiglio presentation, with the promise of bringing him the best for two years. Lewis Hamilton will be at Fiorano, where his first drive at the wheel of the Ferrari awaits him. Two immense champions facing the challenge they have chosen to take on, and certainly in search of a crown set with (red) diamonds.