Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso believes the majority of negative comments being made about winglets in MotoGP are simply complaints from rivals because the Italian team has developed an advantage.

Ducati was the first manufacturer to add aerodynamic aids to its bodywork during the 2015 season, with rival manufacturers gradually following in a bid to catch up. But the devices have come in for criticism so far this season as more of them appear, including concerns about riders being injured by winglets in collisions, and the danger caused by increased turbulence when following another bike.

Asked at Jerez on Saturday if he’d given his view on the winglets to MotoGP’s safety commission, Dovizioso said: “Nobody made a request to me or asked what I think – just the riders complain and that’s it. But this is normal, when riders say negative things. It’s normal they complain.

“Like I said before, there is a rule and Ducati just used the rules and developed something nobody really developed [previously]. Do we have an advantage now? Yes, and everybody complains.”

Dovizioso accepted, however, that safety concerns should be taken seriously by MotoGP officials.

“About safety, we would speak about that because everybody would have to do something,” he added. “It’s good to speak about safety and Ducati is completely open to speak about that.

“We have to find the right answer. If it is confirmed it is dangerous, we will do something.”