Honda makes frank admission about 2026 MotoGP season

Alberto Puig admits Honda was “expecting something more” from the opening half of the 2026 MotoGP season.

Expectations for Honda’s year were high after a return to form in 2025, in which it scored a victory at the French Grand Prix and three other dry-weather podiums.

But the Japanese brand has so far failed to live up to those standards, with Honda on 109 points after the first 11 rounds compared to 141 at the same point last year.

Joan Mir did score a podium at the Catalan Grand Prix, though had it stripped from him due to a tyre pressure penalty.

“We expected more”

Reflecting on the season so far, HRC team boss Alberto Puig admits more was expected, even if he believes the brand has been more consistent.

“Well, I think we more or less maintained, or kept, the level we showed in the last part of last season,” he told the official MotoGP website.

“I mean, on the bike we’ve made some progress, some gains.

“On the results, not so much. We got the podium in Barcelona, but maybe we were expecting something more.

“But, I mean, I think we are a bit more consistent than last year on average.

“Obviously, thinking about next year’s bikes, we have upgraded the bike a little bit but probably not enough to make the second step.

“But it is what it is. I think, from our understanding, regarding the future, what we did implementing onto this bike is going to help us next year.

“Ok, we are here and still have quite a lot of races to go and expect to improve our results.”

Puig added that making a considerable step in the second half of the year will be hard due to the development focus being pushed towards 2027.

“I think it’s not so easy, in terms of we don’t have… I mean, people are thinking about the new bike.

“So, basically we need to try to make a good weekend, to find some good settings.

“Still, there are some small things we can adjust, but basically try to focus on what we have and just race to our best level and see if we can get good weekends.”