MotoGP fans slam Valentino Rossi after Franco Morbidelli’s VR46 contract extension is announced

Add as preferred source on Google

Franco Morbidelli has become the latest MotoGP rider to sign a new contract ahead of the 2026 season. Next year’s grid is now virtually complete.

Morbidelli’s VR46 deal was due to expire in December but, as was widely expected, he has signed what appears to be a one-year extension. This comes just a day after Honda confirmed renewals for Luca Marini and LCR’s Johann Zarco.

Honda are expected to sign Diogo Moreira as Zarco’s teammate, axing Somkiat Chantra. Jack Miller’s anticipated extension at Pramac will then bring the rider market to an end.

Morbidelli is sixth in the championship, having scored a total of four podiums this year. He’s outscored teammate Fabio di Giannantonio despite missing three events through injury, but has also been outshone by fellow GP24 rider Alex Marquez.

These MotoGP fans think Franco Morbidelli didn’t deserve a new contract

VR46’s decision has angered some fans on social media. Some opponents made reference to his checkered penalty record.

Morbidelli earned a three-place grid drop at the season opener in Thailand for impeding Francesco Bagnaia, and then received a long-lap sanction at Mugello for a collision with Maverick Vinales.

One fan lamented his habit of ‘staying on the racing line on slow laps getting in the way’, while another said he’d been ‘a little bit of a menace’ this season.

Some feel Morbidelli is no longer worthy of a spot in the premier class. It was suggested that he ‘peaked in 2020’ and that he ‘should have been sent home during his Yamaha days’.

Team owner Valentino Rossi has been warned that he’s in for ‘another year of mediocrity’. Morbidelli was the first member of his academy, which led one user to suggest that ‘friendship is more valued than talent’.

Valentino Rossi may have enjoyed Franco Morbidelli’s recent comments about Marc Marquez

A recent report claimed that Rossi would find it ‘too painful’ to axe Morbidelli. His performances this year have certainly been respectable, so one can understand why the team want to reevaluate him next year, at which point they’ll have far more options.

In an interview late last month, Morbidelli questioned whether Marc Marquez could be seen as the greatest due to the events of the infamous 2015 season. He and Rossi remain at odds to this day.

It’s clear that Morbidelli has a close relationship with the seven-time premier-class champion. While he seems to polarise MotoGP fans, it’s worth remembering that he’s won three Grands Prix.

In general, it’s been a somewhat disappointing season for VR46. They have been upstaged by Gresini despite having a closer relationship with the Ducati factory team, and they’re still without a victory of any description in 2025.