Marc Marquez feels he needs to be patient about his recovery, as he conceded he doesn’t even have the pace for a top-five finish after Friday practice at the Italian Grand Prix.
The nine-time world champion made a highly-anticipated return to MotoGP at Mugello, having been forced to miss the Sunday race at Le Mans and the entire Catalan GP weekend due to injury.
The factory Ducati rider took risks late in practice to secure a direct berth into Q2, ending up sixth on the timesheet and just two tenths off the pace set by VR46 rider Fabio di Giannantonio.
However, there were still some reservations about Marquez’s fitness, with the Spaniard having to pass additional tests after FP1 in order to be allowed to take part in the rest of the weekend.
While the foot injury he sustained in the Le Mans sprint was no longer a concern following surgery, Marquez remained uncertain about how his shoulder would respond after doctors operated to correct a bent screw that had intermittently rubbed against a radial nerve.
Marquez stressed that while he feels mentally ready for a grand prix weekend again, he expects to struggle to find the rhythm in race trim.
“Mental side, when I'm without the helmet, I'm ready,” he said. “I'm passionate and I know that I need to be passionate. Then, when you wear the helmet, it's more difficult.
“My riding style always is, if I have somebody in front, I try to overtake him. But at the moment, I need to have this mental work and try to be passionate.
“Of course, today I took a risk on that single lap. But I'm not ready at the moment to fight even for the top five. So, no target on the lap time, no target on the position. Just a target for constant evolution.”
While the shoulder operation fixed the underlying issue that had been hampering him since the start of the season, Marquez expects the weekend to get worse for him each day due to physical fatigue.
“I didn't feel any tingling, which is what the nerve rubbing against caused,” he said. “But it's true that I expected to feel better on the bike. I expected to feel better on the bike in FP1, and I felt worse than I thought.
“But it's true that when the nerve is working better, there are new aches and pains, and different positions, which I have to adapt to.
"I'll have to be patient, it's something I've learned. The goal now is to rebuild my arm. Now, we have to see where the limit is for this arm, which has had seven operations from the elbow to the shoulder.
He added: "If I have to start 12th on the grid, I'll do it. Theoretically, I should get worse this weekend. I'm still losing time in right-hand corners, and in changes of direction, too."
Marquez said he finds himself in a similar situation to the early flyaway races, when he was unsure how long it would take for him to fully recover from the injuries he had sustained in Mandalika in October 2025.
“I will come back a bit, like when we speak in the pre-season,” he said. “I don't know what my 100% is. So, let's see.
“The most important thing is that I'm ready from the mental side and I want to try to reach my 100% again, because if you're not ready mentally, then it's better to give up.
“So, I'm ready, I will try. Maybe I can't, maybe I can. We will have the answer maybe in one month, maybe in two weeks, or maybe in two months.”
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