The MotoGP future of the nine-time Grand Prix World Champion beyond 2021 remains in doubt as he battled for form this year.
Rossi made it into Q2 for the third time in Barcelona on Saturday in 2021, straight from FP3, after taking a step forward in setting up his M1 after going “in the wrong direction” on Friday.
Although he only finished 11th in Q2, 0.752 seconds behind Fabio Quartararo’s pole time, Rossi’s progress was halted by an early fall in the session.
Rossi’s ascent into Q2 was greeted by his side in the SRT garage with exuberant celebrations.
When asked whether this shows the pressure his team is under, Rossi said: “I am very happy with the behavior of the team, with the atmosphere in the pits, because I have real support.
“All the guys understand that this is a difficult challenge and they are all very, very sad when my performance is bad, like on Friday when I was P18 and my pace was very bad.
“So they know we need good results and we can still have some good races and we can enjoy ourselves, but we have to be strong.
“My box, but also all the guys on the team support me a lot, and it was fun today.
“And then entering Q2 at the moment is a good result for us.
“I think it’s more than the pressure. The pressure on the team, I don’t think they have a lot of pressure.
“I think that they want to get to the front as normal. I don’t feel any particular pressure. It’s more real support. “
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Rossi has previously spoken of having the full support of SRT management despite suffering his worst season to date with just 15 points from the first six races.
Regarding his performance upgrades at Barcelona, Rossi believes the track played a role, but he also thinks the move forward is real.
“I like the track here in Barcelona, I’m driving quite well,” he said.
“But we’ve also improved the bike’s setting. I think we made a mistake on Friday.
“On Friday we went in the wrong direction. But these are things that more or less happen to all drivers on the weekends.
“The problem is when it happens to me it’s ‘Rossi is too old you have to quit’ after a bad training session.
“But it’s normal, you work and we’re trying the wrong way. But I’m very, very happy with the feeling I have today because I wasn’t that bad on the track, and I’m enjoying it. “
Valentino Rossi, Petronas Yamaha SRT
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images