Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi has said his first target is to continue in MotoGP for 2021 with the full backing of Yamaha in the Petronas satellite team.

At the 2020 team launch today, Rossi explained why he had taken the decision with Yamaha to step back from the factory squad and open the door for youngster Fabio Quartararo.

“From one side it was a difficult decision for me because I know that waiting have a consequence which means don’t continue in the factory team but on the other side it was not difficult to take the decision,” said Rossi.

“I don’t want to continue if I am not competitive. To try and stay at the top in any sport, especially when you are not young, require a lot of effort and for give the maximum you have to work every day in modern MotoGP.

This you can do if you have the motivation and enjoy, and the result are the most important part. For these reason, it is like this but I ask to Yamaha the support and they say yes if I want to continue because the first target is to continue in 2021.

“We have a fantastic team that is the Petronas team which has demonstrated they are competitive and a very high level. So at the end it will not change a lot.”

Rossi does not yet know if he will take his long-term crew to Petronas should he decide to continue for another year and said he will only think about 2021 and no further.

Click here for images of the 2020 M1