Six times MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez said he hoped to return to racing this year, after having surgery on his arm in June, and should have a clearer picture next week of what was possible.

The Spaniard, returning to the paddock on Thursday for the first time since May, told reporters at the Austrian Grand Prix that he would not wait until he had returned to full fitness.

He said he was optimistic about his ongoing recovery, increasing his workload every week with the arm reacting in a good way. “My intention is to make some races this year,” said Marquez, in a media session cut short by rain and wind rattling the hospitality unit.

“Next week I will have the answer if it will be possible or not,” he said referring to hospital checks that will decide his next steps. “When I feel ready I will come back because it will be important to prepare for 2023.”

Marquez broke his arm at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix and has had three operations since then. He has not competed since the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello in May but remains the highest-placed Honda rider in the championship, at 14th, despite missing a total of six races so far this season.

Marquez said he had not moved his arm for the first six weeks post-operation. “Then the next two weeks I started to move my arm, with the physio. The last four weeks I started to work a little bit with elastics. Now I start to increase a little bit the weight. If I need to wait one more week, I will wait,” he said.

“When I will feel 70 or 80%, when I feel I can ride a MotoGP bike in a more or less good way, I will come back. The last part of the rehabilitation, the best way, is to be on the bike. You cannot wait to be 100% before riding the bike.”

Marquez indicated Honda needed to work in a different way as a team to get back to the top and he believed they could do that.