Luca Marini's theory on why Honda has been struggling in qualifying in MotoGP

Theory Briefing

• Honda's 2026-spec machine has shown genuine race-pace competitiveness, making its qualifying struggles a specific and puzzling weak spot.
• Marini is offering an internal diagnosis of the problem, suggesting the gap between race and qualifying performance points to a setup or tyre-use issue.
• The contrast between strong race trim and poor one-lap pace raises questions about whether Honda is optimising for the wrong conditions in development.