Marc Marquez’s race at the Thai Grand Prix could be described in two contrasting halves: one interrupted by a crash and the other marked by a controversial incident with Joan Mir in the closing laps.

Marquez was running in second place when he crashed on lap 14 while attempting to make a move on Francesco Bagnaia, who was in the lead. Despite this setback, Marquez rejoined the race in 16th and fought his way back into the points.

On lap 23, Marquez overtook Joan Mir at turn three, where they made contact as they reached the apex. Positioned on the inside, Marquez took the spot while Mir continued on track. However, Marquez was later handed a "drop one position" penalty for irresponsible riding. As a result, Marquez initially dropped from 11th to 12th in the post-race standings, but his official position was reinstated after the stewards confirmed he had served the penalty during the race.

Reflecting on the incident, Marquez acknowledged that he anticipated a penalty but felt it was open to interpretation. “I imagined I’d get a penalty,” he said, explaining that how the contact was perceived depended on the viewing angle. “If you see it from the straight, that’s one point of view, but from the final part of the turn, it’s another. Before braking, I was already parallel with Joan.”

Rather than simply pushing Mir off his line as the TV replays suggested, Marquez believed the contact occurred because Mir was aggressively defending his position. “He lost three positions on the previous lap and was trying not to give up,” Marquez explained. “He released the brake and went into the corner, and I had no choice — I didn’t have the rear brake after my crash. So I thought, ‘Okay, contact happened,’ and expected a penalty.”

Knowing a penalty was possible, Marquez decided to push hard to reduce its impact. “I thought, ‘I’ll catch the rider ahead, let him pass, then overtake again,’ and that’s exactly what I did,” he said, sharing his strategy to minimize the effect of the penalty.