Marc Marquez drops major hint when asked about leaving Honda
The Repsol Honda rider is contracted on the most lucrative deal in the sport until the end of next year, but his team’s struggles have resulted in reports that he could find a way out early.
Alex Rins, who was also expected to stay with LCR Honda next season, has already confirmed he will leave to join Yamaha.
But Marquez said at the British MotoGP at Silverstone: "Next year I have a contract with the Repsol Honda team. The target is to improve the bike, and at the Misano test.
"It’s not like I have heard ‘just wait in 2023 because 2024 is another year’. MotoGP is a constant evolution.
"If you want to perform well in 2024, you need to start in 2023. We are working together to improve the project.
"In 2024 we need to find the best for 2024, for Honda, to fight for the title. This is the only target."
Honda team manager Alberto Puig previously said nobody would be forced to stay if they wanted out, opening the door to a potential Marquez exit.
KTM were strongly linked, largely due to sharing Red Bull as an influential sponsor, but that route has evaporated in recent weeks.
And Ducati have always insisted that Marquez’s age prohibits him joining the Italian manufacturers.
The result is that Marquez is now most likely to see out the final year of his contract with Honda, and to spend the second half of the 2023 season developing a bike which could challenge for the title in 2024.
His future, however, is likely to remain a talking point.
