Valentino Rossi unhappy with Yamaha’s “treatment” of Franco Morbidelli

Finally it has been confirmed that Morbidelli will be replaced in the 2024 MotoGP rider line-up by Alex Rins, after months of speculation that he would be axed.

Rossi “took a dim view” on the decision, according to GPOne.

The Italian legend was “already not particularly happy about being moved to the Petronas satellite team in 2021,” the report adds.

Rossi signed a deal as a brand ambassador for Yamaha earlier this season.

The Japanese manufacturer is where the seven-time premier class champion enjoyed his most iconic days.

But, awkwardly, Yamaha have now dispensed with one of Rossi’s proteges in Morbidelli.

Morbidelli is one of four VR46 Academy graduates on the current MotoGP grid.

His removal from his 2024 seat with Yamaha comes at an intriguing time because the manufacturer have been linked with taking over Rossi’s Mooney VR46 team from 2025 onwards.

How this chapter may have soured relations between Rossi and Yamaha remains to be seen.

Marco Bezzecchi is currently considering whether to remain with Mooney VR46 in 2024, complicating the picture if that team leaves Ducati for Yamaha a year later.

The possibility of Bezzecchi exiting Ducati for Yamaha on these terms “exists but is low”, the report claims.