Yamaha has confirmed that its rider Maverick Vinales will leave the team at the end of the 2021 MotoGP season.
Valentino Rossi has insisted that the leaving of his former teammate from Yamaha will have no effect on his own future plans and that will depend solely on his own performance on the track.
It is not yet known which decision the Italian rider will make, but he admitted will make a final decision during the five-week summer break.
“It looks like something is going to change soon. I don’t know the details of it, but maybe something very unexpected will happen.” Rossi said.
“But frankly, this doesn’t change the decision I’m about to make, my decision depends solely on my own performance.
“What will happen within the other Yamaha team and with the other Yamaha M1 is independent of my decision and plans for my future as a rider.
“We can also be clear, my performance during the first half of the season is not what we expected before the season.” Rossi added.
Rossi is yet to decide on his racing future, but unlikely he will remain with Petronas SRT and Yamaha having endured his worst season so far.
“We hoped for better results. So Sunday’s result (DNF after a crash) doesn’t help us. But as I have always said, during the upcoming summer break I will make a decision about my plans for the coming season.” Rossi said.
“Nothing has changed about this yet, you’ll hear about it when it’s time and I’ve made a decision.” he added.
Rossi’s own future options are also increasingly linked to the choice of machinery for his own Aramco-backed VR46 team’s 2022 MotoGP debut.
