Rossi is in his 26th Grand Prix season in 2021, but it has been the worst of his career so far as he only scored 15 points in the first seven races and didn’t show anywhere near podium potential at the Petronas SRT Yamaha.
The Italian, who was in 21st place after training on Friday for the German Grand Prix, will decide during the summer break about his future beyond 2022, his resignation seems to be looming.
In his nine years in MotoGP, Marquez is just one title behind Rossi’s seven total and is expected to beat that once he is fully fit again after his nine-month injury break last year.
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In a recent interview, three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo said that he enjoys winning more than races. Marquez asked if he shared this view on Friday at the Sachsenring.
“One of the motivations for being here is that I like the taste of the podiums, the way they win races, and the competitiveness,” he said.
“As soon as I have the feeling that I am not competitive and that I am fighting for the top positions, it is time to rethink a lot.
“But it’s definitely not the real situation, the real situation is that I have some limitations that I’m working on and the goal is to have additional motivation to drive like I have in the past.
“But it’s true, if you have won a lot of races and a lot of championships in the past, if you don’t win you need extra fuel. [for] the victories. The emotions give you extra fuel, extra motivation, and a winner needs that.
“Precisely for this reason I say that I am very surprised and I guess, but at the same time I am surprised how Valentino accepts this, because now Valentino is driving, he has no options, but he is still enjoying – or looks like he would he enjoy it.
“But I can’t imagine, for example, in his position – maybe in the future, I don’t know – but I can’t imagine staying in this championship and have no chance of even staying on the podium.”
In response, Rossi said it “makes sense” to continue as he “hoped” he could be more competitive than he is, but admits that his current form is “not fun”.
“When I talk about these things, I always seem very clear,” said Rossi.
“I continued this year because I was hoping to be more competitive, maybe not to fight for the World Championship, but to be at the top, do some good races and be in the top 5. Maybe on the podium on the right day , but still be close and be a protagonist.
“So it made sense in my head, but the results are worse than we expected and of course I don’t like finishing 16th or 20th either.
“Last year was a very strange, atypical season. There was COVID, then I had just changed the crew boss and would have liked to have started in a real season.
“But I don’t enjoy finishing 16th either.”