Morbidelli is the only one of Yamaha’s four riders in 2021 not to have factory-supported current-spec machinery, with the Italian remaining on the lesser ‘A-spec’ M1.

This is despite scoring three of Yamaha’s seven grand prix victories last year and finishing the campaign as its top rider, 13 points from the title in second and four places clear of Maverick Vinales on the first of the 2020 M1s. 

Speaking at Yamaha’s factory team launch event on Monday, Jarvis explained why Morbidelli wasn’t given a works bike for this year despite his success. 

“The spec of the bike is chosen by Yamaha and the teams, but there are also financial consequences to the spec of the bike you have,” Jarvis said. 

“A real factory bike frankly is a lot more expensive than an A-spec bike. There are timing issues of when you have to place the order for the materials. 

“We had the COVID issues, COVID has put a lot of pressure on sponsors, on Yamaha, on companies. So, we’re not in the most favourable economic times ever.

“The decision on the spec of the bike for Franky was taken in the middle of last year. It’s not something that could have been changed in October or November.

“Does Franky deserve to have top spec? Yes. Is it possible? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

“But as you’ve seen last year, the spec of the ‘A-spec’ bike is very similar and very performant. And coming into this year the engines are frozen. 

“So, you can imagine that bike will be equally performant in this next year as well. I don’t think Franky will have any disadvantage.” 

Morbidelli’s bike is essentially a 2019 M1, which the likes of Vinales and Fabio Quartararo agreed last year was a better bike than the 2020 model. 

With Morbidelli’s results proving to be more consistent, Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli admits this year’s factory bike will be closer in spec to the SRT rider’s. 

“We suffered with a lack of grip, or in some occasions it was very difficult to adapt the set-up of our bike in all the circuits,” Meregalli said. “Already this aspect is an area where we are working, we are very focused to try to make a better-balanced bike.

“For sure, last year we could – especially in Japan – they could understand the weak points of the factory bike and the stronger points of Franky’s bike.

“So, this is a match that in Japan they are really working on.”

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The COVID-19 pandemic has already forced MotoGP to alter its plans for the start of the 2021 season, with the Argentine and US Grands Prix postponed and a second Qatar race added, as well as round three now taking place in Portugal.

February’s Sepang test was also cancelled due to the escalating virus situation in Malaysia.

Despite the pandemic entering a second wave of infections across many countries worldwide, MotoGP is forging ahead with its plans to get its 2021 season underway on time.

Pre-season testing has been moved to Qatar on 6-7 March and 10-12 March, before the first race on the weekend of 28 March and the second Qatar round the week after.

To ensure virus safety, MotoGP has modelled its bubble protocols on that used for the Australian Open Tennis tournament and the NBA in America.

All paddock members must have a valid negative test result within 72 hours of boarding the flight to Doha, and will take another PCR test upon arrival before being quarantined in their assigned hotels while awaiting results.

All paddock members will be subject to random PCR tests throughout their entire stay in Qatar, with four hotels being utilised as bases.

Such is the strictness of MotoGP’s protocol no member of the paddock will be allowed to hire a car, with MotoGP organising transport to ferry the paddock between the hotels and the circuit.

No one will be allowed to leave their hotel grounds for any reason other than to travel to the circuit – though the possibility of allowing group excursions during days off is being considered.

At present, MotoGP riders are not being forced to remain in the country between the second pre-season test and the first race – but the entire Moto2/Moto3 paddock, which will test in Qatar on 19-21 March, will not be allowed to leave the country until after the Doha GP.

The same protocols for arriving into Qatar will have to be followed again for any MotoGP rider who does return home between testing and the first race.

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Factory Ducati outcast Petrucci has joined Tech 3 for 2021 after signing directly with KTM, and will ride as a factory-supported rider at Herve Poncharal’s squad.

The double MotoGP race winner signed with KTM before it demonstrated its race-winning form during the coronavirus-truncated 2020 season, but says he knew KTM’s potential following the step forward it had made with its RC16 in 2019. 

When asked by Motorsport.com following KTM’s launch event last Friday if he could expect more from his debut Tech 3 season than he could during his factory Ducati tenure, he replied: “For sure, in the last two years I was able to win a race per year. 

“But I think I was the first one to see and believe in KTM and the upgrade they got already at the end of 2019.

“So, it’s a big change because after six years [with Ducati] it was time to join another factory like KTM. Especially because I saw in the last part of 2019 the improvement, and since the beginning of 2020 the bike has been very fast. 

“They’d won already in the third races of the championship and the last race of the championship. So, it’s a big, big opportunity for me.

“For sure the target is to win again and to win with KTM, with this manufacturer, [which] means that I will have won with two different manufacturers which just only a few riders were capable of doing. So, it’s a big target and I want to do it.”

Petrucci says the pressure on him now he is with a satellite team again is no less than it would be if he was still a factory team rider.

“Yeah, maybe in the past, but if you have the same bike [as the factory riders] like I had in Pramac, this means you can fight for the top positions,” he explained. 

“For example, Miguel [Oliveira] last year with Tech 3 won two races. So, it means in terms of pressure I don’t care about this because I know I have the full factory bike, so I have to stay in front. I don’t have less or more pressure than the Red Bull [factory] guys.”

He added: “I don’t think there are advantages of disadvantages [of a satellite team compared to a factory]. We are technically speaking all on the same level with the bike. So, unfortunately, I’m the oldest one of four but the most experienced.

“So, I ride other bikes in MotoGP so I can give a lot of experience back. I don’t see any big thing compared to the Red Bull factory. I mean, we are factory [-supported] too.”

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Three-time MotoGP race winner Quartararo steps up to the factory Yamaha squad from Petronas SRT for this season in a straight swap with SRT-bound Rossi.

During their seven years together at the factory Yamaha squad, Rossi and Lorenzo developed a fierce rivalry, which led to a wall being erected in the garage to split their teams and culminated in a bitter fallout while contesting the 2015 title.

When asked during his first official appearance as a factory Yamaha rider at the team’s launch event how he thought his rivalry with Vinales may develop, Quartararo said: “With Maverick, I hope it will be like Valentino and Lorenzo because they fight 1-2 in the championship until the last race.

“I hope to take the place of Lorenzo to win the championship, but I have a good relationship with Maverick. I think we can work really well together, and we can bring Yamaha to the top.”

Quartararo led the championship for much of his sophomore 2020 season, but a dip in form dropped him to eighth in the standings.

It was the first time that the Frenchman had been a championship leader in his grand prix career and this led many to question his pressure management.

However, Quartararo doesn’t see the pressure of stepping up to the factory team as a negative and feels he will be able to better steer the bike in the direction he wants than he could at SRT.

“First of all, you go into a factory team you have kind of more pressure, but you have much more support,” he said.

“When you are doing testing, you are developing a little bit more the bike for you.

“When I was with Petronas, I had everything, but I just confirmed if it was working or not. But when you are in the factory, you say ‘we need to modify this to go better’.

“The factory normally is doing the change or they try to do the best for you.

“I think maybe I have more pressure, but I’ve learned a lot in the last years to handle the pressure and in the end it’s good pressure to be a factory rider.”

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Yamaha signed Fabio Quartararo to take Rossi’s place for 2021 at the start of last year, with the veteran Italian remaining a factory-backed rider with a switch to SRT. 

Vinales feels Yamaha has lacked unity within its ranks for the last three years, and believes now there is no longer the division within the garage of having “Valentino’s team” and “my team” the Japanese marque can be more “complete” as a unit in 2021. 

“I think for us it’s very important the unity in the team, because for the last three years everyone was going it alone,” Vinales said during Yamaha’s 2021 launch event. 

“We were not all as one, and I think with Esteban [Garcia, crew chief], also Lin [Jarvis, managing director] and Maio [Meregalli, team manager] what we are trying to do is take the 20 or 24 guys that are working inside the team to make it one team.

“And for me I think this is more important to keep the good mood, the good feeling.

“After the previous years, it’s been difficult because it was Valentino’s team, my team.

“Now I think we have the opportunity to be one complete team and to go forward in the same direction with both riders and I think to accomplish what we are able to do, because you can see in one race we are super good and the next race we are bad.

“For me it’s difficult to believe the bike can change so much from one track to the next.

“So, first we have to up step all these problems we have, and for sure the results will come alone because we have the speed, we have good qualifying, we have good races, good rhythm. 

“So, what I think we need is more details. We need to go deep in the details, and I think Maio and Lin are really involved in all these details.”

Quartararo agrees with Vinales’ comments, noting they showed similar levels of performance across the campaign, which should aid in developing the M1. 

“In Jerez, both [of us] made 1-2, then in the end of the championship we were always together; if I was seventh, he was eighth, or reversed,” Quartararo said when Motorsport.com asked him about Vinales’ comments. 

“So always super close. At the end of the year, we never had a factory bike in P1 or P2, and then all the rest P11.

“We were all down or all up, so I think we more or less had the same complaints and I think we can do a good job together. 

“It’s always difficult to say the same comment because we have different riding styles.

“But for sure we have the same problems and I think we need to push in the same way, and I think this is great.

“Of course, Maverick is my main rival, but if we can fight for one and two and not eighth and ninth, it’s much better to work together.

“So, I think it will be a good rivalry and to improve the bike.“

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The 2021 season marks Yamaha’s 60th year in grand prix racing, having made its debut in the world championship back in 1961.

In its tenure in the premier class, Yamaha has won 17 premier class riders’ titles, beginning with Giacomo Agostini in 1975, with its most recent coming in 2015 with Jorge Lorenzo.

The current agreement between Dorna and the manufacturers comes to an end in 2021, with Yamaha the latest to agree a new deal – which is due to be official announced imminently.

“In terms of commitment to MotoGP, Yamaha is celebrating its 60th year in grand prix competition,” Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis said during the marque’s 2021 launch event.

“So, we’ve been in the game in 1961, which was just five or six years after the company was born.

“So, we’re definitely committed to MotoGP, and I can tell you after this media conference there will be a press release confirming our commitment for the next period.

“So, Yamaha has signed the agreement with Dorna for 2022-26. So I’m very happy for that and that’s a sign of our intention.”

Yamaha joins KTM, Ducati and Honda as the manufacturers who has signed the new five-year agreement, with Suzuki and Aprilia expected to sign up.

Last week, Dorna announced it had agreed a new deal for five years with the International Race Teams’ Association (IRTA), firming up its commitment to the grid’s independent squads through to 2026.

Of the independent teams who have confirmed their commitment to MotoGP beyond 2021, both LCR and Gresini have already made this announcement.

Yamaha currently supplies Petronas SRT with factory-supported machinery, with Jarvis confirming it will hold discussions with SRT and Rossi’s VR46 team in the spring.

“It is true that we have a three-year agreement with the Petronas team, which expires at the end of this year,” Jarvis added.

“And as you’ve seen from the press release last week with IRTA and Dorna, the independent teams have signed up for that period.

“So, this year will be a period of renegotiation with satellite teams in general and I believe it is not only Yamaha that will be in the middle of negotiations.

“So, in our situation, definitely the Petronas Yamaha team has done extremely well since we started with them.

“There’s no question in their capabilities and capacity as a team. Will VR46 enter or not, that’s the question.

“From what I understand they have an option which expires at some time, and I believe they are seriously considering to enter.

“So, Yamaha, we will continue to discuss the candidates that are available, and that I guess surely means Petronas and VR46 because of our long-term relationship with the company.

“Nothing has started yet, there are no negotiations on the table at the moment, but that will begin in April and May.”

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For the first time since his return from Ducati in 2013, nine-time grand prix world champion Valentino Rossi will not form a part of the Yamaha’s factory line-up.

Eight-time MotoGP race winner Vinales – who joined Yamaha from Suzuki in 2017 – remains with the squad, with three-time race winner Quartararo making the step up from Petronas SRT.

Yamaha’s livery is largely similar to that it ran last season, as its title sponsorship with Monster Energy remains in place.

Yamaha won half of the 14 races run last season, but endured a wildly inconsistent season, with its top runner in the championship SRT’s Franco Morbidelli in second on a 2019 M1.

Vinales was the top placed 2020 Yamaha rider in sixth in the standings, having won at the Emilia Romagna GP.

Quartararo’s strong early-season form deserted him in the final rounds, with the Frenchman fading from title contender to eighth in the championship despite a haul of three victories.

Both Vinales and Quartararo were very vocal about the deficiencies of the 2020 M1, with the former admitting in the latter part of the campaign that it was “impossible” to think about winning on the bike.

Yamaha was also embroiled in controversy late-season when it was found guilty of running non-homologated engines at the opening Spanish GP last July.

Due to an “internal oversight”, brought about by a supplier no longer making the homologated part it needed for 2020, Yamaha fielded engines with illegal valves at the Spanish GP.

These engines ultimately proved to be unreliable too, with Vinales and Rossi losing units on the opening weekend. Yamaha was forced to withdraw two from each rider’s allocation as a result of the non-homologated valves.

In 2021, former Tech3 rider and three-time MotoGP race winner Cal Crutchlow will serve as Yamaha’s official test rider, replacing triple world champion Jorge Lorenzo in the role.

Yamaha’s satellite squad SRT will launch its 2021 season with Rossi and Franco Morbidelli on 18 February.

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MotoGP has implemented a freeze on engine development for 2021, with all but KTM (as it lost concessions in 2020) and Aprilia (because it still has concessions) racing this season with last year’s motors.

Normal update regulations outside of aerodynamic fairings and engines will still apply, but the stability in the rules will likely mean bike development won’t be dramatic in 2021.

Suzuki often had the most consistent bike during races weekends in 2021, with Rins scoring four podiums in the last seven races – including a win at Aragon – while teammate Joan Mir managed the most top-three finishes of anyone (seven) on his way to the title.

Rins believes the stability in the rules and the consistency of the current GSX-RR package could stand to benefit Suzuki – but insists the field will be even closer this season.

“Maybe it’s an advantage to us because we have a very good base, and every time we start on Friday we make a good decision with the set-up,” Rins said when asked by Motorsport.com if the rules freeze would benefit Suzuki.

“We just have to change a few things [on the bike], but not too much. So, maybe it can benefit us, but for this [season] the rivalries will be so high because more or less the bikes will be the same for everybody as last year. And more or less the set-up is there.

“For me, every year is even harder. In 2019 I was thinking ‘ok, the level that year was so high, let’s see for 2020’. And the level for 2020 increased. Let’s see how the level increases in 2021.”

Racing for a reigning championship-winning team for the first time in his grand prix career in 2021, Rins feels if there is any pressure on him as a result of this, then it is “good pressure”.

He also believes facing up against his world champion teammate Mir will be a “good challenge”.

“I know that we have a good bike, I know we have a bike that last year was the world championship bike,” said Rins. “So, let’s put together all my talent, all my experience and let’s do a good year.

“[Facing Mir], it’s a good challenge because I have by my side the current world champion. He will try to repeat this, to maintain the level, so let’s see if I can arrive there or if I can fight with him to be world champion.”

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Eight of 2020’s 14 grands prix were won by riders at satellite teams, with Fabio Quartararo and Petronas SRT teammate Franco Morbidelli responsible for three each, while Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira won twice. 

Both Oliveria and Quartararo were riding factory-supported machinery, while Morbidelli was on what Yamaha dubs its ‘A-spec’ M1 – which is essentially a 2019 bike – and finished runner-up to Suzuki’s Joan Mir in the championship.

In 2021, all satellite team riders but the Avintia duo and Morbidelli will be on factory-supported current-spec machinery

When asked during KTM’s official team launch day if a satellite team could win the championship in 2021, Poncharal responded: “Honestly, yes. Almost all satellite teams have equal machinery [to the factory teams], equal support, equal development speed. 

“We could see last year – with all respect to our factory team – we won more races than them.

“If you look at what happened in Jerez 2 and Spielberg 1, we could have been very close to maybe the best-placed KTM in the championship.

“If you look at Yamaha, clearly the independent team [SRT] in 2020 was the leading Yamaha team. 

“So, I think an independent team has the possibility on paper to win races, we could see that last year, and to win the championship I’m pretty sure. 

“I really believe an independent team can win the championship thanks to the technical rules, thanks to the riders we have, thanks to the manufacturers we have who believe in their satellite operations.” 

Oliveira’s wins in 2020 were the first for the Tech3 squad in MotoGP, but Poncharal admits coming into the new campaign as grand prix victors doesn’t change how the team approaches the season. 

“Honestly, it doesn’t change too much,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com if Tech3’s approach to 2021 was different as race winners.

“I think 2020 was a great championship in general, was a great championship for KTM, for Tech3.

“But we start from scratch. The grid is incredibly competitive, bikes, riders, and very clever he who can say who is going to win round one and very clever he who can say who will be world champion in 2021.

“I think it’s very open, almost anybody on the grid can win races and quite a few can win the championship.” 

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MotoGP’s six manufacturers agreed on a total freeze on development of homologated parts for the 2020 season, with those restrictions on engine and aerodynamic updates remaining in place for 2021 for all non-concession runners.

KTM started 2020 as a concession manufacturer due to its lack of dry MotoGP podiums previously, but lost that status courtesy Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira’s Czech and Styrian Grand Prix wins.

MotoGP’s manufacturers agreed to allow KTM to develop a new engine for 2021 to be homologated ahead of the opening round, though a member present at the meeting told Motorsport.com last year there were worries KTM could use this to build a “super engine”. 

Speaking after KTM’s official 2021 launch event, Beirer said some development has been carried out, but the RC16 does not feature a “radical new engine”. 

“It’s the same bike concept, not a radical new engine,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com if KTM had elected against a new engine concept.

“We touched some parts, but we did not bring a completely new model. 

“If we use the gap in between the lines, actually we could build a completely new bike. 

“But first of all, you need also to have the manpower to do so, and we committed to our colleagues that we’re going to go altogether in a useful format and not to destroy too much material and that’s what we did.

“So, we didn’t have the plan to make a complete new machine and use this moment to take an advantage.”

He added: “We committed to a COVID protocol in the worst moment of our management career, all these managers, when we had all manufacturers in a phone call and we all decided we must protect MotoGP in our companies and keep our tools for the future, not to burn crazy burn. 

“To burn money would mean to not use up good material from 2020 and destroy it and build completely new material for 2021, because we planned only 10 races. 

“Later it became 14 races, so we used a lot more than we thought of the 2020 material, but still all the material for six races has been shifted to the new season and we also want to use it.

“So we did some development, we worked on some parts because our engine was never planned to do the mileage for a non-concession team when we planned the 2020 season.

“So, we had to do some modifications, but not the major ones.”

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