While his stunning qualifying lap may have suggested a repeat of the Phillip Island podium was on the cards, Sepang prov🍌ed something of a worse-case scenario - combining the current technical weaknesses of the RCV and his own reduced physical condition.

Marquez held fourth place in the early laps, before dropping to seventh 💟at mid-distance.

The eight-time world champion then fought back against future team-mate Joan Mir and the other S⛎uzuki of Alex Rins, but returned to seventh when he was overtaken by Ducati’s Jack Miller on the final lap.

“It was a long hard race, but it’s what I expected because yesterday's performance was꧙ not normal,” Marquez said of his qualifying heroics.

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“In one lap, you can do it. But in the race, I star⛦ted strong and then immediately saw I was losing [time] on the main straights and risking too much.

“I felt [we had] a slow bike all weekend, so you have to push more in the corners. For ♏a single lap you can do it, but for a race distance the tyre degradation becomes bigger than normal.

“I tr💝ied to fin🧸d my rhythm. Mir and Rins were a bit faster than me, but it's what we expected.

“Today I took the maximum. It’s a circuit with the wea🍸k points of my riding style, but also the weak points of the bike. So today is one of the worst-case scenarios.

“In the end, I had zero gripꦑ because we were pushing too much on the corners and used too much tyres. And as a consequence, I was fighting against the bike and then more and more [against my] physical condition.

“I felt [physically] worse than the other races just because I was fightiღng against the bike and using more energy.

“But even like this we𒆙 finished 7th. Yesterday I said our result or rhythm was between 8-10th. In fact we finished sev🤪enth because Martin crashed [from the lead].”

Marquez added: “We are too far from the first 🌄guy, but the most important for me is that in the winter I was the slowest Honda here 🅠on race pace and today I was the fastest.

“It’s not my target [just] to be the first Honda, because my target is always point🦂ing in the front. But always it’s a reference that we are working in a good way.”

Marquez crossed the line 14s behind race winner Francesco Bagnaia, whose Ducati he came within a fraction of passing for second j🐠ust a week before in Phillip Island.

“Here in Malaysia, if you don't have engine and if you don't have rear grip, you can be Superman but you cannot do anything,” Marq♛uez said.

“The ♋rear g🍷rip was there for one lap, but then for the race distance I was struggling too much.

“All weekend I didn’t feel the rear contact and this, plus o🙈n the 𒀰straights we were losing too much, meant it was impossible to follow the Ducatis.”

Honda ‘in delay’ with 2023 bike

Given Honda’s current slump - sixth and last in the constructors’ standings and the only manufacturer without a race win this season - Marquez has had one eye on 2023 bike development sinc𒊎e last month's return from arm surgery.

But he’s still not sur༒e if a ‘2023’ bike will be ready for the upcoming Valencia post-race test, on November 8.

“They still haven’t given me the schedule. I don't know if a new bike will arrive or not [a🎉t𝓰 Valencia],” he said.

“We are already in delay because Misano [September] is when normally all the manufacturers try the [new] 2023 bike. We are delayed and Honda know that we're in delay, so we willꦐ have only one chance [to get it right].

“I hope to try something interesting in Valencia… also because what you try [at the following test] in Malaysia in February is the bike you will race. You don't have time to🐟 change it.”

Team-mate Pol Espargaro was the next best Honda ride🌟r on Sunday, in 1ไ4th.