Six-podium rider has become MotoGP’s ‘Lance Stroll’ with no threat of losing his seat

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The vast majority of the riders on the 2025 MotoGP grid have signed multi-year deals. This will take through them to the end of the current ruleset in 2026.

The field underwent a reshuffle last year, with world champion Jorge Martin switching to Aprilia after losing out on a factory Ducati deal to Marc Marquez. Martin forms an all-new line-up with Marco Bezzecchi following the exits of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales.

With Pedro Acosta graduating to KTM, three of the five factory squads are fielding different combinations. The general rule is that a manic rider market precedes a more settled one, and vice versa.

But there are a few riders who are out of sequence, having only signed for 12 months. One of these is Jack Miller, who secured the final spot available at Pramac.

There’s a suspicion that non-sporting factors helped Miller, with MotoGP keen to have an Australian competitor. Elsewhere, Luca Marini must improve at Honda as he approaches the end of his deal.

Marini only scored 14 points last season, ranking bottom among the full-time riders. And then there’s Franco Morbidelli.

Franco Morbidelli is MotoGP’s Lance Stroll thanks to Valentino Rossi

Some may believe that Morbidelli is on a ‘prove-it’ contract for the 2025 season. But speaking on The Race MotoGP podcast, journalist Valentin Khorounzhiy suggested otherwise.

Khorounzhiy says that Morbidelli isn’t really in a ‘a contract year’ because he has the support of VR46 owner Valentino Rossi. The MotoGP legend is effectively his father figure within the paddock.

The journalist suspects that the negotiations over Morbidelli’s move from Pramac were fairly straightforward. He even likened him to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Formula 1 driver Stroll is protected by the presence of his billionaire father Lawrence. Unlike Morbidelli, he’s yet to win a race, while he’s only scored half as many podiums (three vs six).

“We have constant discussions in Formula 1 over whether Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll could ever be fired because his father runs the team,” Khorounzhiy said. “How could he possibly be operating under the same metrics of free agency?

“When he goes into a contract year, he doesn’t really go into a contract year, because the contract is with his dad. Well, Valentino Rossi is kind of the dad of Franco Morbidelli and all the other VR46 guys.

“Getting Morbidelli into VR46 this year cannot have been the hardest contract negotiation of their lives, I suspect.”

Valentino Rossi’s brutal stance on the VR46 MotoGP team

Fabio Di Giannantonio will receive the only 2025-spec Ducati on offer at VR46 this season. He’s contracted to the factory team, while Morbidelli is a product of Rossi’s academy.

The 29-year-old might not be too upset about his number-two status. Morbidelli has struggled with spec changes during his career, so staying on the same bike – a championship-winning machine no less – could help him.

He’s coming off a tricky season where he finished ninth in the standings, 335 points behind title-winning teammate Martin. He felt the lasting effects of a brain injury suffered in testing.

Will he be able to lean on the support of his mentor? Even though it carries his nickname, Rossi views VR46 as a business and has little emotional investment in the team.