Downbeat Joan Mir: “I don’t know if I can do another year like this”

Joan Mir has delivered a detailed explanation on how he will decide whether to stay at Honda, or to quit.

Mir is into his second, and final, year of his Honda contract but his bike looks worse than ever.

He admitted ahead of this weekend’s Catalunya MotoGP that he is assessing his team’s plans for improvement before deciding whether to seek a new employer in 2025.

“In terms of what I want to do in the future? Honestly, I don’t know,” Mir said in Barcelona.

“It is difficult to say if I want to stay or not when you don’t see the performance.

“I’ve been here for one year and we are in the same situation as last year, if not a bit worse, in terms of bike performance.

“For me now, the most important thing is to understand when we will be competitive. When we will get good performances, when we will get close to the top guys.

“When I understand that, I will be able to decide.

“Now, I don’t know if I can do another year like this…

“It would be very hard.”

But, the 2025 MotoGP rider line-up is already taking shape and some coveted bikes are being snapped up, Mir was told.

Delaying his decision could cost him the chance to snare a better machine elsewhere.

“It’s a risk that we should probably take,” he replied.

“It is true that the market moves very fast.”

Honda underwent a private test at Mugello in the past fortnight, ahead of the MotoGP round at the same circuit next week.

Mir insists that any new parts he saw in Mugello will not directly influence his decision of whether to stay at Honda.

“This doesn’t change at all,” he said. “As a rider you always give 100%, you give good information.

“The year is very long. A small thing can completely change our life.”

Honda's Mugello upgrades explained

The private Mugello test for Honda and Yamaha was a part of the new concessions rule to aid their development.

Mir revealed: “We made a lot of laps, it was a very productive test.

“We tried a lot of things. Aerodynamics, especially. Different configurations on the engine.

“We won’t get what we requested at the test for [this weekend]. We will have a similar package.

“We are in the progress of working. We need this month, two races at the end of June, then another month. From there, we will take a step forward.

“We are working on the correct direction, I am 100% sure. We need effort and work on that direction.

“This is the homework they must do in Japan. They are working hard, I know it.

“In the next two months we will get good upgrades on our bike.”

Mir said about the engine he tested: “We tried a different one. It was better, it helps the bike to turn. This was one area which we lost our way.

“On the other hand, the power changes a bit. They have to put it all together.

“We saw it can have positive things. But they must work to take a step in the weak points.”

Mir said about new aero parts: “It was good, positive. It was not a big evolution. It was a step.

“I won’t use it [this weekend]. I will probably use it at the next race.

We are following the steps.”

Mir was asked if the new Honda upgrades are improving his lap time, or just his feeling with the bike.

“To be translated to lap times, we must improve the weak points,” he said.

“It is better in some areas but we have lost in a lot of areas.

“If they can make the good things now with the good things we had in the “past, then they will make a step.”

Mir did, however, insist that he finally believes Honda are moving in the right direction.

“Yes. In terms of evolution, yes,” he confirmed.

“Before, I had a feeling inside of me that we were not working in the correct direction.

“Now, I have a good feeling.”