Rossi puts pressure on Yamaha

The Italian, who won five straight titles in the top class of MotoGP from 2001-2005, has missed out on the title for the past two years, and he believes that the Japanese side of the squad must take a lot of responsibility for the team's problems.

"If we want to win the title again, then we need the people in Japan to put in more effort," Rossi told Italian magazine Motosprint. "They must work their butts off.

"For 2008 I have a contract with them. If they show me we can still fight, fine. Otherwise we could make a different choice."

Rossi admits that he is disappointed with how slowly this year's bike has been developed, and he has urged Yamaha's bosses in Japan to be more aggressive in the future.

"We need to stop suffering from the slowness of a big manufacturer," he said. "We need to be more aggressive and more courageous in the decisions and the development of the bike.

"This is what we have lacked this year. We had a big disadvantage at the beginning of the season, and it's not as if we improved so much in the engine. Besides, every time we do something new it breaks down."

Rossi says that the Yamaha management in Japan who are not directly involved in the team may be disappointed that he has not repeated the championship successes that he had in his first two years with the manufacturer, but he feels that the extra performance must come from the manufacturer.

"I don't know what the people outside the team thought of our results," he said. "They expect a lot from me, so another second place, after having won the first two years, may be a disappointment.

"But at this point it's up to them to demonstrate something to me. Now they too must put some more into it."