The key image from the Italian MotoGP was Marquez, after clambering back t🐬o his feet in the gravel, gesticulating with frustration at his stricken bike.

H🌸e had crashed out from fourtꦑh - he has failed to finish the most recent four grands prix that he has entered - while fellow Honda riders Joan Mir and Alex Rins suffered injuries at Mugello, too.

“It’s not a secret,” Marquez told . 

“We know Honda is in a difficult﷽ moment and all their riders are struggling a lot. 

“I hope that t♑ogether we can improve the pr✨oject. 

“Now we maybe🐟 lose the way a bit and the bike i🔥s not competitive. But we will arrive.”

Marquez’s f⛎uture is the source of great debate within the paddock.

He is tied to Honda on the most lucrative contract ꦍin the sport until the end of 2024.

He is a🌳 six-times premier class champion but is now aged 30, with a dreadful history of injury behind him.

Marq♔uez was asked about seeking a new team but replied: “I have a two-year contract with Honda so my target i♔s to try to find the best because I’m convinced Honda can do it.

“Look what they do in Formula One where they [supply] th💟e best engine for Red Bull. So I believe in them.”

Red Bull are in their third year of dominating F1꧃.

Marquez entered 2023 injury-free for the first time in years but, on the first weekend in Portimao, broke a hand in a crash with Miguel Olive✱ira.

Six rounds into the season he has not finished a grand prix yet, and his championship hopes are 🦋surely over alrea🥃dy.

“It is very difficult," he said.&nbs🌠p;"I am [116] points behind the leader and, as you say, we don’t haveꦰ the bike to be the fastest. 

“But we have a long calendar and let’s see if we can c🅺ontinue working and find the rhythm to win a race again.

“I need the target. The target, the title,൩ was there but it is now much more difficult because I was out three races.

“We show that we are fast in 🐼a single💜 lap but now we need to improve the pace and be more consistent during a weekend.”

Next weekend is the German MotoGP🍸 at Sachsenring - historically, one of Marquez’s favourite circuits.