The Tech3 GasGas rider had been out of action since suffering multiple back and jaw fractures in a crash during FP2 for the Portuguese GP and made his return at Silverstone last weekend.
At the end of a mentally and physically draining weekend, Espargaro finished both races and scored points in the grand prix and took the chequered flag in 12th.
Speaking to the media at the end of his comeback weekend, Espargaro admitted he considered pulling out of the grand prix before he saw several riders ahead of him pit for wet tyres when it started to rain in parts of the track.
“I’m cooked. Well, after 10 laps I was cooked,” he began.
“After the first 10 laps I was completely burned out. I think the first 10 laps I found myself behind Augusto [Fernandez] and I could follow him for the first few laps, and I think that was the problem.
“I asked of myself a little bit more and my body just said ‘enough, you’ve done enough’. I completely locked, the neck is completely locked, I couldn’t do more.
“I was thinking about retiring, but first of all I wanted to finish, but then I saw some guys pitting when it started to rain in sector four, so that was a present that they were giving to me. So, I just continued and took some points.”
He added: “I’m far, very far away from where I want to be. To not be able to follow a slow rhythm, it’s way too bad.
“But I’ve been in that situation before with other injuries. Normally in the pre-season you spend two months off of the bike, and then you go to Malaysia and on the second day you are dead, with just two months of not riding and no injuries.
“I spent four months with huge injuries in my body. It’s normal, but this is a bad moment that I needed to pass. It came here in Silverstone, and in Austria it’s going to be a bit better.”
Espargaro noted that the new weekend format, in which Saturdays feature qualifying and the sprint race, as well as increased fan activities, were “stressful” to get used to as it left him with less time to recover.
While happy to have been able to race again, he admitted that his racer’s instinct meant he was still disappointed at his performance.
Asked by Autosport if his comeback was everything he dreamed of having not even been able to eat four months ago, he replied: “This is the theory. The theory is that I should be very happy, I am here, I am racing.
“But as we are humans, we always want more, and you end the race and ask, ‘how many seconds back was I?’.
“And this is bad, but it’s ok. To come back to racing, with this team is amazing. I’m super happy. I’m tired because I raced, not because I’m recovering from injury.”
