A 'small issue' cost Marco Bezzecchi the chance to fight for victory in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

For the fourth time in 2025, Marco Bezzecchi featured on a Grand Prix podium for Aprilia, but it could have been a second win for the Italian manufacturer.

Bezzecchi's weekend started in terrible fashion as he was in 18th place on Friday afternoon and had to go through Q1 on Saturday. However, the Italian turned his weekend around as he clinched pole position after progressing out of Q1.

He went on to finish in fourth place in the Saturday Sprint Race, and backed it up with a third-place finish on Sunday.

"I a super happy, it is an incredible bounce back after a difficult Friday afternoon," Bezzecchi said after the Austrian Grand Prix.

"But we kept ourselves calm, and we tried to work a lot to try to solve everything. Already on Saturday morning, I felt immediately better; I was really positive on the bike and was feeling a little bit better lap by lap.

"The pole position was fantastic because I did a wonderful lap, I made no mistakes, little things, but that is normal. Yesterday [Saturday] was also a decent result in the Sprint, but when you start from pole position, you always want more."

After a strong start to the Grand Prix, Bezzecchi found himself in the lead and managing the situation. However, a small issue that he would not name, caused him to lose focus and drop back to third place.

"I wanted to stay in front, to have clear air, and to keep my rhythm," he explained.

"I saw that I was managing the gap to Marc well, and I was not stressing my tyres, I was trying to short shift and be gentle on my tyres.

"Unfortunately, from half race distance to the end, I had an issue and I had to slow down. I had 0.7 seconds over Marc, but when I had this issue in a lap and a half, Marc closed it to zero.

"I knew he was there, and I tried my all to resist, but he was really strong. I tried to attack again, because I wanted to stay in the lead. I was strong in braking, but in the end, he was really fast.

"Also, Fermin came, and he was really, really strong. I knew he could be fast, but after seeing how the sessions were, I expected Pedro or Pecco, not Fermin, but the Ducatis are always strong.

"I tried my maximum to achieve this podium, but it was all I could do."