MotoGP: Is Rossi considering a shock 2021 SRT Yamaha Switch?

Valentino Rossi has confirmed that he is considering a seat swap with young French rider Fabio Quartararo for the 2021 season, joining the satellite Petronas SRT Yamaha team.

The Italian rider comes to the end of his current two-year deal at the Factory Yamaha team, but is still unsure as to whether he will continue into 2021, after a difficult three years.

Rossi has repeated that during the three flyaway races he will assess his results and decide whether to re-sign with Yamaha, but speculation has started as to which Yamaha team it will be.

“I don’t see that big of a difference. I would rather stay where I am, but as I said, we are three and the seats are two, so you have to think of a third,” Valentino Rossi told Gazetta dello Sport.

Fabio Quartararo stepped up to MotoGP in 2019 and impressed in his rookie season, taking the fight to the newly crowned eight-time World Champion Marc Marquez on more than one occasion.

Quartararo, who despite his incredible form last season is still chasing his maiden MotoGP victory, could replace Maverick Vinales, who has been linked with both Ducati and a possible return to Suzuki, where he claimed his maiden MotoGP victory in 2016.

If ‘The Doctor’ were to swap seats with Quartararo, Rossi will remain on the latest spec bike and still play a key role in developing the M1 Yamaha.

The new season gets underway in Qatar, Losail on the 8th March, and we recently explored how the 2020 grid came together.