An interesting sight will be seen in the Petronas Yamaha SRT team garage when Franco Morbidelli becomes a teammate of his own mentor, Valentino Rossi. Valentino Rossi joined Franco Morbidelli after being confirmed to be removed from the Monster Energy Yamaha satellite team last year.
The union of Rossi and Morbidelli presents a hot topic considering that The Doctor is not a friendly figure when he competed on the track. Rossi is known to have heated feuds with various rivals he has faced in MotoGP. Some of the rivalries experienced by the winners of the nine world titles have even reached the stage of hatred.
“Valentino needs to stir up personal resentment against his rivals to motivate him. That’s his thinking,” said Sete Gibernau in an interview with DAZN. “We used to be good friends, but after we started competing we were no longer friends,” continued the man whom Rossi reportedly cursed to never win again.
Morbidelli himself hopes that competition with his mentor will not affect their relationship. Moreover, Morbidelli admitted that he had difficulty separating Rossi as a friend and rival. The Italian-Brazilian motorist showed a peace-loving attitude by considering nothing great but friendship and affection.
“The human side is more important than the competition,” said Morbidelli. “It’s just a competition. It’s a very important competition because we’ve been doing it since childhood, but still it’s just a competition. So it’s important to remember this when we compete, and I hope we will compete for the top spot and an important result,” he added.
Despite Rossi’s friendship problems, Morbidelli will not let his aggressiveness down when the competition arrives. “I will compete with him in the same way as before. Nothing will change. Maybe one day I see him as a major rival to beat and five minutes later as a friend,” he said.
Morbidelli and Rossi will carry out different missions in MotoGP 2021. Petronas Yamaha SRT expects Morbidelli to compete again in the race for the MotoGP title. Meanwhile with Rossi, the Malaysian racing team wants The Doctor to be able to achieve more regular podium results next season.
