Why it won’t just be Marquez’s speed that saves Honda in MotoGP

When the COVID pandemic sent the world into shutdown, it seemed inconceivable that the ‘new normal’ we now live in would be one in which the seemingly uncrushable Marc Marquez/Honda juggernaut came to such a sudden halt.

Ever since Marquez badly broke his right arm at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix, nothing has been the same for Honda. In his absence that year, Honda registered its first winless season in the premier class ever in the near-40 years it has competed full-time since 1982.

Three wins in 2021 when a under-par Marquez showed glimpses of what is still possible when he will be fully fit, a recurring eye injury forcing him into a three-month hiatus over the winter and out of the crucial development phase of the 2022 RC213V sent Honda down another rabbit hole.

A fundamental change in bike philosophy was made by Honda to try to find more rear grip. Although it was initially met with praise by most of its riders, Pol Espargaro taking that bike to third at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, HRC hasn’t come close to being anything that could be considered a front-running force since.

One rider who didn’t like Honda’s change in bike philosophy was Marquez, who couldn’t understand its front-end. Regardless, he was still top Honda rider in four of the six races he actually started in 2022 (he missed the Indonesian GP and Argentine GP due to another eye issue, caused by a concussion) before going for a fourth major operation on his right arm following the Italian GP at the start of June. After last weekend’s Austrian GP, he is still the top Honda rider in the championship with 60 points in 15th – 15 clear of LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami in 16th.

Honda's revised 2022 bike has left its riders struggling for confidence and form

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Honda’s attempts to make a more rider-friendly bike did exactly what it feared would happen in years gone by: it worked against Marquez, while backfiring even further in the fact the bike wasn’t friendly to anyone. The difficulties Honda has faced has led to a dip in morale among riders, with Espargaro noting earlier this month that he didn’t think HRC was actually reacting to the problems being faced.

“What bothers me is that Honda is not speaking out, that there is no reaction,” the Tech3 KTM-bound Spaniard complained. “I don't see that Honda is very concerned. I don't know what to interpret.

“The worst thing is that a manufacturer like this does not show its muscle. Five years ago, it seemed unthinkable that the Japanese brands would gradually struggle, and that the Italians would fly. It was something that could not be foreseen.

"We are seeing that the European teams are working in a different way, we are seeing that Honda is working a lot – more than ever. They are working, the budget is there and you cannot say 'no, you don’t do anything'" Marc Marquez

“The problem is that I have no idea what Honda is thinking; I don't know if what is happening here is coming to Japan. At first glance, it doesn't look like it because we are not getting the material we need to improve the bike.”

That’s a stark contrast to comments he made in pre-season testing, when he said the sheer scale of change Honda has made to its bike showed its might.

A source close to Honda told Autosport in recent months that the shift that has taken place within MotoGP, whereby the European manufacturers have taken a march, has not been reacted to by the Japanese.

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The mentality of how the Japanese work has been extensively scrutinised this year. Marquez himself doesn’t believe this is necessarily the key issue, as that particular style won Honda seven championships in the space of eight years in the 2010s. And while he concedes that any change in the championship must not be ignored, it would be wrong for Honda to make a knee-jerk reaction.

Marquez made his first appearance in the paddock since his latest operation at the Red Bull Ring, where he held important meetings with Honda bosses

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I don’t want to say ‘no, Honda needs to work like Europeans’, because in the end the Japanese style also worked a lot during these years,” Marquez said on his first visit to the paddock since Mugello in last weekend’s Austrian GP. “We won many titles in the last 10 years. But, it’s true that in the end the world is changing, the championship is changing.

PLUS: How Formula 1 has driven MotoGP's changing nature

“It’s like when the young riders arrive, the riding style changes. And you need to try to investigate, try to find the way to be the best and improve. And in that part Honda is working very hard. But it’s important in a difficult moment not to panic. Panic will be the worst enemy now.”

Marquez’s recovery is going well and this week he will have a crucial check-up to determine when he can return to riding a bike again. The plan is still for him to return to racing before the season is out.

His visit to the Austrian GP was more significant, however, than simply filling the media in on his recovery. Marquez was there to have meetings with Honda’s engineering staff and listen to the feedback from riders on the bike. He feels during 2020 and 2021 when he was out of action he “disconnected too much” from what was going on, so when he finally returned properly in the winter of 2022 “everything was too new”.

Marquez made it clear he was not in Austria to dictate what direction the 2023 bike must go in. For him, his ideas are simple: “I want a winning bike. But maybe the ‘Marquez style’ bike, the other style of bike from last year or two years ago, maybe now is not working because the category is changing.”

But he didn’t shy away from letting the world know what it is he wants from Honda. He wants a unified vision and a united front to bring Honda back to the top of the world championship. This is what is important, and is a pertinent point when in recent years a key complaint from HRC riders has been the lack of unity on development and set-up direction.

“We speak all the time and when I say team, it’s not people – it’s concept, the concept of the team,” he says when asked what he thinks needs to change within Honda for it to be competitive again. “We are seeing that the European teams are working in a different way, we are seeing that Honda is working a lot – more than ever. They are working, the budget is there and you cannot say ‘no, you don’t do anything’. They are working.

Marquez recognises that some fundamental changes need to be made for Honda to rediscover its form

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“But when I saw changes in the team, it’s the concept, the coordination, trying to find the way. I’m not the guy to say ‘this is the way’, because Honda is the brand that has won more titles in the world and I’m here with Honda because I believe in them and I believe I can come back to the top with them.

Honda needs clear leadership, and it has that in the form of the rider who delivered it its most successful period in MotoGP since the Mick Doohan years in the mid-to-late 1990s. Marquez’s comments in Austria, then, were a war cry to galvanise a crumbling empire

“But, it’s true that they need to understand the way to organise well because every time we have more and more racing, less testing, the work in the factory becomes more important than at the circuit. But the circuit needs to work more together with the factory.”

Marquez’s firm assertions as to what he thinks Honda must now do were an interesting departure from the downtrodden comments his HRC counterparts have been making for some time. And it is exactly the reason his Honda team put him in front of the media at the Red Bull Ring last Thursday.

Honda needs clear leadership, and it has that in the form of the rider who delivered it its most successful period in MotoGP since the Mick Doohan years in the mid-to-late 1990s. Marquez’s comments in Austria, then, were a war cry to galvanise a crumbling empire. Ultimately, it will be Marquez’s leadership more so than his unearthly ability to ride a motorcycle that will propel Honda back to championship winning ways in MotoGP.

Marquez is still getting back to fitness, but it will take more than his sheer speed to get Honda back to winning ways once again

Photo by: Honda Racing