Late tyre change was "biggest mistake", says Marquez

Marquez and fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow were the only two riders set to use the hard front, before the race start was delayed.

During the delay, uncertainty over track conditions and a warning from Michelin contributed to Marquez changing his mind and opting for the medium front.

The Spaniard featured among the frontrunners early on in the race, but eventually lost touch with the podium battle, going on to finish fourth - just ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa and the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro.

Marquez recalled: "The temperature was dropping, the humidity was coming higher - I was with the hard front tyre and I had some doubt.

"Then the Michelin guys say 'you are the only one with the hard, be careful, you can crash' - and then okay, I go to the medium... mistake.

"I remember now after the race that last year in Silverstone I did the same mistake, I go with the soft to save - and it was too soft.

"I think with the hard I was able to fight for the victory until the end. But maybe also was able to crash. Because the hard in the end also is no warning, less warning - maybe if I put the hard, I'm more competitive but I crash."

Marquez reckoned the main takeaway from the situation was that progress is needed with the Honda bike, as its deficiencies make it so that it's crucial for him to get the tyre choice "perfect".

"We must work on the bike," he said. "If you have an easy bike, then it's easier to choose the correct decision. If you have a bike that you're on the limit [with], then you must choose correct.

"If you don't choose the perfect decision, then you already lose too much time. This was the biggest mistake."

Decision "taken out of my hands" - Crutchlow

LCR Honda rider Crutchlow similarly went from a hard front to a medium front right before the start and ended up crashing twice during the race.

The Brit insisted the switch to the medium compound was a wrong decision that was imposed on him, but would not elaborate on who made the call.

"We knew that the medium tyre was not going to be possible on the front for us, it was way too soft and we sort of got forced into changing - because the race was later, they were concerned about the dew," Crutchlow said.

"It was completely the wrong decision for me and Marc. That decision was really taken out of my hands, which doesn't usually happen to me and it's not really a correct thing.

"Marc got forced to change his basically as well - and I think that would have been the key for me and Marc to be strong in the race.

"Don't get me wrong, I still don't think the Honda was as competitive as the other manufacturers - but Marc, with his better front tyre, was able to compete - and that was it."

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont and Mitchell Adam