Franco Morbidelli has revealed that he began to doubt himself in the four years between his MotoGP podiums.

It had been 1414 days since Franco Morbidelli had last featured on a Grand Prix podium at Jerez in 2021.

The Italian rider broke his podium drought at the Argentine Grand Prix after finishing third in Sunday's 25-lap race.

During this long period of time between podiums Morbidelli had begun to doubt himself and his ability. The 30-year-old had gone from finishing second in the 2020 MotoGP World Championship to struggling with injuries throughout the last four years.

"Well, it was great, big time. I had time to forget how nice it was," Morbidelli said after returning to the podium.

"I had time to think about that I wasn’t worth it. I had time to think that I wasn’t enough. I had time to think about many, many good and bad things altogether.

"I’ll tell you next weekend how this feels, because at this moment you are just dizzy - I don’t know if it’s Prosecco or something else!

"But tonight I will understand better what I am feeling and I will tell you next week."

Morbidelli's tyre gamble left him 'hanging on':

The main tyre choice for the Argentine Grand Prix was a medium front and rear tyre. However, Morbidelli decided to be different and use a medium front and a soft rear tyre.

Despite experiencing a drop off in his times he aimed to 'hang on tight like in the last four years'.

"Four years we hung on tight, and it’s an amazing feeling," he said.

"Was great. The team deserves this. We started the season really well, since the beginning of the tests we started working on our weak points and we improved step by step.

"We still have to get better on some areas, for sure, like the starting position is not what I would like.

"But anyway, this P3 feels amazing and we’ll take it big time.

"I knew we would have a drop, but again I tried to hang on tight just like in these four years. And it worked, I’m happy."