Six-time MotoGP World Champion Marquez returned to Portugal after a nine-month injury break last time. He qualified sixth and finished seventh in the race.
That was the best result for a Honda rider in 2021 when Espargaro finished eighth in the Qatar GP as he continues to adapt to the RC213V after a limited preseason.
LCR’s Alex Marquez admitted in Portugal that his brother was already showing the other Honda riders the way to cycling, while Espargaro stated his return was “important” to the team.
However, he doesn’t think his own results this season on the Honda will depend on how well Marquez does on the same bike.
“I think being fast on the team puts pressure on the rest,” Espargaro said when asked if Marquez’s return brought additional pressure.
“In the end my pressure doesn’t change because Marc gets better or worse results.
“I mean, I think the one putting pressure on me is me. I just push myself in every session and know when to go fast and when to go slow.
“I don’t need Marc by my side to tell me or to show me what I’m doing well or what I’m doing wrong.
“I know when I’m not fast and when I can do better.
“Sure there will be days when Marc might destroy me. I’ve given everything and I know I can’t give anymore and I’ll be happy … kind of happy.
“And then it will be the case that I will hopefully be close to Marc. I felt like I could do more and I’ll be angry.
“So my pressure won’t change with Marc’s results.”
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Espargaro says his struggles earlier in the year, after a strong testing performance, were due to the changeable conditions at the Qatar double headers and Portimao weekend that he was unable to work properly on the bike.
With MotoGP returning to Jerez for the Spanish GP this weekend, he wants this to mark the point where his season really begins.
“It is true that the pre-season test was very good,” he added. “I felt everything perfectly in the preseason – not on the motorcycle, but on the track.
“We drove so many laps that the track had a lot of rubber [down] and I did the first test, but the second test in Qatar was very good, the track was under very constant conditions.
“What happened in Qatar? [races] The track changed a lot with the Dunlop rubber as well as the hot and cold.
“The changing conditions on the track made a lot of mistakes.
“And then we moved to Portimao, FP1 was mixed, then FP2 we start to be fast. We didn’t have a full dry session to coordinate all of the sessions and bike to work.
“So what I miss is a place like Jerez, with constant conditions, constant weather, a place where I know.
“It was three races, but on two tracks, but those two tracks were very difficult for me and Honda.
“Well, I would like to take this race as the beginning of our season and start from here very positively and openly.”