Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo expects he will make a decision on his MotoGP future in the coming weeks, amid interest from Ducati.

The three-time champion’s teammate Valentino Rossi sparked the 2017 silly season when his new Yamaha deal was announced before the Qatar season opener a fortnight ago. Yamaha subsequently confirmed that it presented Lorenzo with a contract offer at the same time, but it was wary of an approach from Ducati.

The Italian manufacturer is widely accepted to be eager to recruit Lorenzo, and is reported to have offered the Spaniard a lucrative deal.

When asked if his contract situation had progressed since the Qatar round, Lorenzo said: “The situation is more or less the same. Now we have to concentrate on these two races that are very important.

“For the moment, we didn’t get a victory here, ever in Argentina and ever in Austin, and to be honest I don’t want to tell much more. I want to keep this private with my people and to decide in the next weeks.”

During the pre-event press conference for this weekend’s Argentinian Grand Prix, Lorenzo later declined to discuss the topic further when asked a question in Spanish.