At the first round in Qatar, Rossi started off well by getting a first podium of the season in the form of third place. He had a good start from eighth on the grid to move up to fourth on the opening lap, overtook the Honda of Dani Pedrosa on the second lap and made his move on the other Honda of Marc Márquez with 17 laps to go. However, he went wide at turn one on lap 11 and allowed Márquez and Andrea Dovizioso past. With five laps to go, Rossi muscled his way past the Tech 3 Yamaha of Johann Zarco but eventually couldn't get close enough and crossed the line 0.797 seconds behind eventual race winner Dovizioso. In Argentina, Rossi finished outside of the points in nineteenth place after a collision with the Honda of Márquez, who was storming through the field after starting from the back, when his bike stalled as a result of the crash. Márquez went up the inside of multiple riders, clashing with the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaró first and later with Rossi. When the Spaniard misjudged the braking point, he forced Rossi to go wide, making him clip the grass and fall in the process. Rossi eventually got going again, but failed to score any points afterwards. After the race, Rossi accused Márquez of "destroying our sport" because he "doesn't have any respect for his rivals" and Márquez received a 30-second penalty for the action. At the following rounds at the Americas and Spain, Rossi finished off the podium twice in fourth and fifth place, but he bounced back by scoring three consecutive third-place podiums at the French, Italian and Catalan rounds. At Mugello, he scored his first and only pole position of the season – his first since the 2016 Japanese GP and his 51st MotoGP pole position overall.