Marquez has now quit Honda a year before his big-money deal was due to expire and will ride for Gresini Ducati this year, hoping a better bike allows him to fight for the MotoGP title.

He lea꧋ves behind Honda who have struggled for the past few seasons, and whose bike has slipped significantly behind ൩the dominant Ducatis.

Lorenzo, who rode alongside Marquez for Repsol Honda in the final year of his own career, was initially asked if the Japane🦂se manufacturer’s woes began when they lost Dani Pedrosa, who joined KTM as a test rider af🍬ter retiring from racing.

“It is very easy to simplify it to a sin🙈gle conclusion like 'it was because they don't have Dani Pedrosa',” Lorenzo replied to 🍸.

“No, I think it has been a combination of things, among them that Marc Marquez has a very particꦅular and very special style that is fa♛r from what a standard rider is. 

“A common rider does not brake in such a brutal way, nor does he ride in such an 🍌extreme way as Marquez.𓂃 

“If Marc is the one who steers the e🦄volution of the motorcycle, he will make a motorcycle that suits him well, but that won't suit a more standard rider. 

“Without D🥀ani Pedrosa he has taken that lin☂e. 

“It is also true that Marc's injury caused Honda to lo🅷se a leader for half of the last three years. 

“And, above all, the rise of Ducati with Gigi Dall'Igna at 🔯the level of ideas and techno✤logies. It has simply been superior. 

“In fact, the European factories, along with Yamaha, have copied many o🎶f the ideas that Gigi and his en🤡gineers have created.”

Ducati supremo Dall’Igna rejected the opportunity 𓆏to join Honda to lead their comeback thisಌ year.

Lorenzo believes the addition of Dall’🍨Igna could have solved many of Honda’s🐼 issues.

“Yes, definitely,” he said. 

“If Honda had s💟igned Gigi two or three years earlier, right now it would possibly have a better bike and not have lost Marquez.”

Repsol Honda 🌳replaced Ma✃rquez with Luca Marini, who will join Joan Mir this year.

B🙈ut their pursuit of a replacement was a drawn-out saga which too🦂k them down several avenues.

“I understand the fear of any rider seeing t🦩hat the best rider on the grid 🉐decides to give up that big contract to leave Honda,” Lorenzo said. 

“I understand the fear, especially of young people like Fermin Alℱdeguer, of rejecting a motorcycle like this. 

“A motorcycle that offers those sensat😼ions, because it is a double-edged sword, very very sharp.”

Honda are trying to return to the summit of MotoGP by hiring crucial behind-the-scenes staff, and they also stand to benefit from new conces⛄sions rules.

“If you lose patieℱnce, you sink into this situation... you won't get out,” Lore💙nzo warned. 

“It takes a lot of patience, with t꧃he Japanese philosophy of 'kaizen' [continuous improvement] and little by little putting the pieces of the puzzle together to once again have a competitive motorcycle-rider pairing.

“But right now, Ducati has the bestಞ bikes and the best riders, so it's going to be difficult to beat them.”