Luca Marini and Joan Mir identify Honda progress - but there’s a big problem

Despite making progress over the winter, Luca Marini believes Honda is just as far away from the front of MotoGP as it was in 2024.

The Italian believes that the RC213V is an overall step forward this year compared to last, but not necessarily any more competitive as a result.

“We improve the bike from last year and we made a step with the 2025,” Marini said.

“But, still, we are super-far, because we made a step but everybody made a step – this is the problem. I think the gap at the moment is more or less the same [as last year].”

In particular, Marini said that the 2025 bike has improved in the first part of the corner, but the problems in acceleration remain.

“I think we improved the braking part of the bike and the turning compared to last year,” he said.

“For sure, it’s still missing the engine, the top speed.

“This will be the key for try to have more potential in the future, during the season, especially to overtake because Joan [Mir] and Johann [Zarco] made a fantastic lap today and they were super-fast.

“But the problem is that when you have a race it’s difficult to overtake and then the bike goes super-hot, same problem with the tyres.

“So, I think we have to focus on this to try to have more opportunities to overtake during the race, because we will still start from mid-grid, not so far forward.”

All in all, Marini concluded that the new bike is “easier” to ride, “especially if you have to make a race simulation, it’s super-easy to keep your pace, you don’t destroy the tyres.”

However, the time attack is “super-difficult, much more difficult, and you have to risk a lot to make a good lap.”

Joan Mir: “It’s not completely like that”

Marini’s Honda HRC Castrol teammate, Joan Mir – who Marini credits with requesting an improvement in throttle connection that has been realised in the 2025 RC213V – clarified some of the Italian’s comments.

“To create less drama I will agree with Luca [Marini],” Mir said when asked about Marini’s braking and turning comments.

“But it’s not completely like that. And he knows it but probably he explained it in a different way.

“The package that we actually have that is a mix of 2024 and 25 is better for the turning area,” the 2020 MotoGP World Champion explained.

“It’s one area that we improved a lot compared to last year. I would say also stability on the brakes because I brake pretty hard and then I turn a lot better.

“So, these are the two things that the package we actually have is not fully the 2025 that makes the bike better in turning – but it’s not fully new things that they bring. We also took some things from 2024.”

Mir was also in agreement with Marini that HRC had made a step forward over the winter, primarily because of his own step forward in lap time compared to qualifying at last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

“We have to be happy because these guys worked hard in the winter time, we could see it, and they show it with a better bike,” he said.

“We have a better package than before. It’s true that [on] this third day the grip conditions are better than in a [race] weekend. This is true.

“But I was [1.3 seconds better] than my lap time in the qualifying. Everything is not the bike, it’s also the way the bike allows me to push. But it’s a combination.

“I’m not satisfied for sure, because I always want more. But we have to be happy.”

Mir then switched to the bike’s negative points, pointing out top speed and grip.

“The thing is that we still have a couple of weak points, but really weak,” he said.

“Top speed is very bad and also the grip compared to the others, we don’t have the same grip as the others. We have to focus on this.

“We still have this famous vibration. We were not able to solve it. That is a shame because it’s something that disturbs a lot the rider and conditions a lot the approach to the corner.

“You lose a lot of time there – every time you have vibration in a corner you lose one tenth, easy.

“But the reality is that we are much, much closer.

“When it’s hot conditions, we struggle more. Our engine struggles more and we have a lot of problems in terms of grip.

“So, we have to work on these two things and try to make a step for Buriram now the first race will probably be in hot conditions.”