Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Viñales sent shock waves through the MotoGP paddock when he announced his departure from the factory team after the 2021 season. With his contract still running for a year, Yamaha graciously accepted Viñales’ early exit, but a month after Top Gun’s announcement, Team Blue has still not announced an official replacement.
Despite the delay, many analysts and fans expect Yamaha to promote the Petronas Yamaha SRT rider and Valentino Rossi protégé Franco Morbidelli to the second factory headquarters in 2022. Although “Frankie” will miss both upcoming Austrian races due to an operation on his damaged meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), he is by far the strongest candidate.
In 2020, the Italian finished second in the drivers’ championship despite dealing with a one-year-old Yamaha racing machine. He secured three wins, two additional podiums and did better than factory Yamaha team riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales and team-mate and current championship leader Fabio Quartararo.
Morbidelli didn’t have the same success in 2021, however, as just a podium finish on his name and ongoing injuries disrupted his consistency. Current calamities aside, number 21 appears to be the successor to Viñales’ vacant seat.
“Even if there is still no official status, Franco Maverick should replace Vinales in 2022,” commented Petronas Yamaha SRT principal Razlan Razali. “It is a natural path, after all, it is Franco’s dream and it would not be right to deny it. We have already given it the green light for this reason. Now the ball is in the hands of Yamaha and VR46, which Morbidelli manages. “
When Morbidelli joins the works team, the Petronas Yamaha SRT team will face a major task. With many speculating that Valentino Rossi will retire after the 2021 season, Razali may have to replace both MotoGP seats in 2022. Due to the current developments, the selection is also quite small. Yamaha riders Toprak Razgatlioglu and Garrett Gerloff in the Superbike World Championship have just signed their contract extensions to stay in the WSBK.
“We have the structure and the set to give young riders the opportunity to realize their dreams,” added Razali. “We saw that with Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo, so we’ll spend our time evaluating every driver we want.”
Of course, Petronas SRT cannot fill its seats for 2022 until Yamaha announces Morbidelli’s move to the factory team and Rossi officially resigns. With less than two weeks in the MotoGP summer break and several options still open, it will be a busy second half of the 2021 season for the Petronas SRT camp.