The boss of the Petronas team, who could welcome Valentino Rossi in 2021, sets his conditions with great firmness and does not roll out the red carpet either at # 46 or Jorge Lorenzo, whose name was mentioned for a time.
The race before the race in which some drivers are engaged is the one that will lead them to finalize their contract for the next season, or even the next one, before the summer. In this very atypical transfer market, Valentino rossi occupies a position that could have seemed unimaginable just a few months ago. Not only did Yamaha decide to exclude him from his official team in order to place his trust in Maverick Viñales and promote a brand new pilot in the person of Fabio Quartararo, and thus form a line-up as young as promising, but the # 46 will have to make an important decision on its future without being able to rely on the only criterion it wanted: that of evaluating its performance by competing in a few races.
Yamaha has warned him that his decision will have to be made before the first Grand Prix of the season, which we hope will be the best in July. Discussions have already started with the team designated to host it, in this case the Petronas team where it would replace Quartararo. But here too, the initial message is firm: Rossi would not be the number one driver there and he would integrate a structure that is not ready to roll out red carpet for him.
“For the team it is important to have stability in terms of performance. Of course we want to keep Franky [Morbidelli], who can bring that “, explains Razlan Razali, director of the Malaysian team, to the official MotoGP website. “Valentino can give direction to the team, but it can also bring a great story for the team. Above all because next year we will come out of a very bad year that we know this year, and then for Valentino, who is nine times World Champion, it wouldn’t be good to stop with a scenario like this, so it would be better for him to continue, and we are able to provide him with the platform [pour cela]. “
“The idea that Valentino can come to us keeps getting better”, explains Razlan Razali all the same. After initial technical and financial discussions with Yamaha and with Petronas, he now wants to speak directly with the main interested party to discuss the other details. Among them, the constitution of his technical team already seems to represent a point of friction, while the Italian pilot has formed a formation to which he is faithful and of which he has just changed the leader by appointing a new engineer to its ratings.
“Valentino is not a pilot like the others. He is a living legend, he is nine times world champion, he knows a lot. At the same time, I am sorry, but for us nobody is at above the team “, warns Razlan Razali. “The team is large. What we had last year was great in terms of structure and people, so we want to keep it that way. We are in our second year and we don’t want to change things up. 360 ° for one person. “
The Malaysian official continues his speech of firmness: “We don’t want Valentino to just end his career with us next year. We don’t want it to be just one last year for him. We want him to do well, be efficient and competitive, and that he is fighting for the podium. I think that is important. “
Without closing the door to a lasting union, Razlan Razali does not intend to put the cart before the horse: “If he can show at his age that he still manages to be competitive, anything can happen during this year, whether he wants to extend or something else. That can be discussed. But as long as we have not met, that we we haven’t asked him what he wants and he hasn’t told us what he expects from the team, we can talk indefinitely. We haven’t even established this communication yet. “
If he still had a doubt on the question, Valentino Rossi is warned: he will not be the leader of the team he will form with his pupil of the VR46 Riders Academy if an agreement is reached in this direction. “I think the priority driver for us in MotoGP next year is Franco Morbidelli. We have to do our best to get everything he needs. This is our priority”, says Razlan Razali. “Even if Valentino comes – and again, it depends on discussions that need to take place – Franky is our key driver for 2021.” There is finally only one point on which the Malaysian manager shows a little more flexibility than Yamaha, it is on the date on which he wishes to have sealed his 2021 line-up: “I think August is really the deadline to announce our second driver.”
Difficult to consider Lorenzo
If Razlan Razali is choosy in front of a nine-time World Champion, he is just as impassive in front of the five titles Jorge Lorenzo. Well aware that the booming season of Fabio Quartararo has only strengthened the appeal of the U1s for a good part of the field, beginners or experienced drivers, the boss of the team does not intend to be quickly seduced. Also, when the hypothetical desire to come back to Jorge Lorenzo is mentioned, he tempers the chances of seeing the Mallorcan in his team next year.
“I chatted with Jorge during the Sepang tests and he seems enthusiastic, he seems rejuvenated about his passion for running again. He asked me, but I did not commit at that time, we were really early in the season, “ he slips. “If it had been a normal championship and if he had made his wild card and it went well … Everything is open in terms of possibilities.”
“Everyone wants to ride a Yamaha, you know. Former riders, current MotoGP riders and all rookies want to ride a Yamaha. We’d be spoiled for choice if it was a normal championship, but that’s not the case right now, so it’s very difficult for us to consider Jorge Lorenzo or any other former MotoGP rider, “ concludes Razlan Razali.
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