Joan Mir reveals when he made decision to leave Honda MotoGP team

Joan Mir confirmed over the Catalan MotoGP weekend (15–17 May) that he will be leaving the factory Honda team at the end of this season, but the decision was made much earlier.

Mir’s departure from Honda was effectively already public knowledge before he announced it, given that it has been understood since February that Fabio Quartararo has signed to join HRC from 2027 and that David Alonso is strongly linked with the Japanese factory as well.

None of the moves are officially confirmed yet, bar Mir’s departure, although his destination is not yet official.

The Spaniard, who won the 2020 MotoGP title with Suzuki, says the decision to leave was his and that it was made at his home grand prix at Jerez in April.

“For sure I know my capabilities in terms of riding and I know what I can do with this bike,” said Joan Mir when asked in the post-race press conference in Catalunya whether he was proud to have finished second on the weekend he confirmed he would be leaving Honda.

“In Jerez I decided that I wanted to move on from here [Honda] and soon you will know where I will go.

“At the end, now we have to enjoy this podium and it doesn’t matter the results of this season, the decision at the end is taken and that’s it.”

Mir’s second place in Catalunya was revoked post-race via a tyre pressure penalty. The 16-second penalty dropped the Spaniard down the order to 13th and promoted Francesco Bagnaia to the podium instead, the Italian taking a first top-three position in a grand prix for the Ducati Lenovo Team since he and Marc Marquez both finished on the rostrum in Japan last October.

It also meant Honda lost its first podium of 2026, the last one for the Japanese factory coming in Sepang last year when Mir finished third behind Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta.