Morbidelli sees himself on a MotoGP bike “for sure”, even if it's not a Yamaha

Morbidelli has improved his performances relative to that of teammate Fabio Quartararo this season, however, the Italian is still under pressure to keep his factory MotoGP seat.

One contender in Toprak Razgatlioglu is no more, after the 2021 world champion elected to remain in the Superbike paddock with BMW next season. 

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However, Morbidelli could still lose his seat to the likes of Jorge Martin, with the Spaniard heavily linked to the Yamaha team. 

But Morbidelli still feels as though he’s in a position to remain with Yamaha and claims rumours fuel his motivation.

Speaking to MotoGP.com, Morbidelli said: "People making up rumours of other riders in your spot gives you extra motivation because you want to show yourself and to other people that you’re in the place [you should] be in."

Yamaha have already stated that continuing with Morbidelli is their number one priority, so if the 2020 runner-up can match the results of Quartararo going forward, that should likely be enough to guarantee his future with the Japanese manufacturer for at least another year. 

"If I look at the performance compared to my teammate it’s not so bad," added Morbidelli. "We were able to get much closer. Fabio has done such great things to get his credibility high in the last few years. I have done too little to have my credibility high. 

"He’s a world champion and is the guy to take out the potential from the bike. It’s complicated to take out potential from the package [we have] clearly the way of working is there and that is easy for everybody to understand. 

"If you are not on top it means you need to work harder. I feel like I need to give a little more to keep my spot and to try and achieve what I want to achieve with this team. 

"I feel as though matching the performance of Fabio is already a good achievement."

If Morbidelli does leave Yamaha, then options should be there for the Italian even if his form has dipped quite considerably since 2021.

Asked where he could see himself, Morbidelli gave a short, but to the point answer: "On a MotoGP [bike] for sure."