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Has Valentino Rossi really lost his passion?

So since the Qatar Grand Prix a lot of rumours have been flying around about Valentino Rossi, some on the more extreme end of the rumour mill such as he's quit Ducati others that are more of a possibility are he's lost his passion for bike racing.
Rossi is the rider that even if you don't follow MotoGP you know who he is and what he does and how successful he's been. He's the rider the younger generation of MotoGP fans have grown up with, almost automatically support because of his success, his character and his talent, even if he's not your number 1 rider.

After switching teams at the end of 2010 from Yamaha to Ducati, everyone knew it was a bold move, Valentino knew that too. He enjoyed a lot of success at Yamaha but good things have to end too. To the Italians it was a match made in heaven, the most successful rider is in a top Italian team, sounds good right? Well, Ducati may well be a top Italian team but in recent years they've dwindled as a top team. Yamaha and Repsol Honda have taken over the top ranks and unfortunately Ducati have slipped to being a front-mid-field team, if that.
2011 was a tough year for the team, both Valentino and his teammate Nicky Hayden struggled to place the bike high up on the grid, the team went through changes and put all their effort in to the Ducati 2012 bike so they could avoid a repeat of a year to forget.
With a brand new bike at the first race in Qatar they finished with a decent result, Nicky finished in 6th... Valentino however finished down in 10th. With that result media flipped out at the Italian and the rumours began.

One rumour i did read was that Vale had a go at the guys in the Ducati box after the race, another being he's quit... now this seems a bit extreme in my opinion. He certainly hasn't quit. There is no denying he's having a hard time with the bike though, his results show that but i highly doubt he'd ever give up so easy, he's not a quitter. Unless something really bad was happening that we don't know about, i don't think Valentino would ever quit the team during the season, especially seeing as it's only race one. It's the first race, there's a whole season to improve, look at Ferrari.

As for having a go at the Duc guy's, if that was true, then doesn't that prove he still has passion? You don't get worked up over nothing.
I know he's had a very hard year, with the frustration of Ducati to Marco Simoncelli's passing. He was a very close friend and losing a friend to the sport you love is unimaginable.
Has he lost his passion because of it? Maybe it isn't as fiery as it was in his championship winning years (which may i remind you weren't all that long ago) has he lost it completely? Hell no! If his passion was gone he would not be racing today and would have retired. He's determined to put in the hard work to improve his teams performance, he knew from the beginning it wasn't going to be easy, i hope that he'll stick around long enough to see the improvement.

Which leads me on to Qatar; the bike's race pace wasn't too bad, yes Vale only finished 10th, he said after the race that the bike was impossible to ride and he couldn't keep up with the other Ducati's pace and struggled but is this the bike or is it VR not able to gel with it?
Nicky's 6th wasn't a bad result considering. Plus, Nicky Hayden is relishing in the swap to 1000cc engines, he never got on with the 800's, he's said it himself that in his championship year he much preferred the bikes then to the 800's from 2007 to last year.
I guess what i'm trying to say is that i don't think the bike is solely to blame, It's working for Nicky which usually means it's not working for Valentino. Although it might not 100% be the bike, i also don't think Vale's lack in performance is because he's lost his passion. I can't see him ever losing his passion for bikes, that's the reason he's stuck around for so long, he's had plenty of opportunities to switch to car racing. I'm pretty sure even F1 would love him but no he's still in MotoGP.

People have such high expectations for him but he can't be at the top forever, as long as he's enjoying his job, enjoying the sport he loves and has devoted himself to, then i'm happy for him. If his heart's not in it though then neither should he and there will be a time, maybe sooner or maybe a little later when he'll retire.
Valentino Rossi of all people knows how dangerous the sport is but how much it gives to you as well, something fans will never understand like riders do however we experience the love for the sport all the same.
Hey, let's not forget Casey Stoner won his first championship on a Ducati! I really hope they start challenging for podium's soon, and they don't give up hope completely.