I don't disagree that the Honda is currently pretty unridable.
but MM's inability to communicate what is wrong and how to develop it is to blame.
If they kept Casey or Dani as development riders they wouldn't be in this mess.
But MM's ego wouldn't have it.
I expect him to leave Honda before the end of the year and pay out the contract.
MM is not solely to blame for this morass. He may be accused of many things, but I'd suggest that 'egotistical' is not one of them, particularly given some of the narcissistic and conceited riders that this paddock has bred over recent years. Where I agree, he has spurned input from other riders both teammates and test riders but it's certainly not in his make up to construct a wall through the middle of the team garage for example and we saw similar problems albeit on a lesser scale afflict Yamaha with the M1 when they ceased to share data at the behest of one rider. This is ultimately, in terms of riders and their engineers, an individual sport - but one of the reasons that Ducati are so successful right now is their open shared policy on data and telemetry - (and yes, having the most bikes on the gird helps).
When Marquez was injured, they did try to make the bike more manageable for the other riders, and in pre-season testing at Qatar 2022, and the opening race this looked highly promising, but both flattered to deceive. Honda radically revamped the 2021 machine to try and enhance rear grip. Marc Marquez described the bike as "so different from previous years, it's as if I changed manufacturer". He also tellingly said last year - “I want a winning bike". But maybe the Marquez-style bike, the older style of the bike, would not work now. In his own words - "before the bikes were very low and short, now they are becoming big, long and tall”. It feels heavy and cumbersome to him and the inertia is something that he has implored HRC to improve. So perhaps the front end friendly bike (to him) is gone for good?
Honda management will typically only allow modifications to the bikes with the direction corporate Japanese engineers believe to be best. Not necessarily precisely what the rider wants. They seem to believe they know better and take some rider requests as "disrespect" to corporate executives and engineering ideas. To reiterate, that's one of the reasons that VR left to join Yamaha. The RCV became a progressively rawer and unrefined blunt tool which initially, only Marc could tame. In this sense, HRC put all their eggs in one basket. The margins became more acute and riding on a knife-edge, his injury and absence was inevitable. They tried to alter it for less talented riders but compromised what strengths it had and made it worse and that period that he was out was a developmental wilderness. Certainly, Marc lacks the communication and developmental prowess and ingenuity of say a Rainey or a Lawson, but he
has given feedback and direction - the problem is, the RCV project is currently a rudderless ship and the team is all at sea.
As I suggested, I also think that he will buy himself out of the contract, but as
@Helge points out, it's not in his nature to walk away and he won't want that legacy of a quitter. What I would say, is that you really wouldn't want an individual with such an extreme and radical riding style ending up as your teammate or leading development. Marc used to say, "I don't want a easy bike, I want a fast bike". Be careful what you wish for. I agree, that while it’s absolutely not 100% his fault, it’s hard to feel sympathetic for him having such a shit bike when he deliberately hindered its development. Vetoing Stoner as a test-rider was utter madness.
Yamaha aren't much better though. You think they listen to Franko over Fabio? No one else but Fabio has had success on the recent M1 and why so suddenly was such a promising and talented Morbidelli an overnight also-ran? Was Cal was the right call for test rider? How's that working out for them?
As fans of the sport, we are never privy to the full story or what goes on behind those garage doors when they drop.