Bautista: I can't do any more to prove I deserve to stay in MotoGP
Alvaro Bautista does not know what more he has to do to prove he deserves to stay in MotoGP amid growing signs he is set to exit the championship
Nieto Ducati rider Bautista scored his best result since the June 2017 Mugello race at the Sachsenring last weekend, beating both works Ducati riders Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso to finish fifth.
The result came amid a time of uncertainty for Bautista, whose Nieto team is in effect being replaced by the new SIC Yamaha satellite operation for 2019.
Bautista had been up against Moto2 race-winner Fabio Quartararo for the second SIC seat alongside Franco Morbidelli, but that now looks more likely to go to Quartararo.
There is one more seat available on the 2019 grid at the Avintia Ducati squad, with Xavier Simeon's place in danger, but the well-financed Karel Abraham is best-placed to seal the ride.
Asked whether results such as his Sachsenring top five would help his future, Bautista replied: "I don't think it will work.
"The decision is not mine and I don't know what more I can do. Win a race?
"I don't have to prove anything. I work the same as always, not because I'm in danger of being left without a ride. It doesn't depend on me, it doesn't make me angry."
Bautista has been linked to a World Superbike move if he cannot continue his MotoGP career into a 10th season.
He has taken five top 10s in the last six grands prix, following a dismal start to 2018 that featured just four points in the first three races.
Bautista explained that it took him until May's Jerez race to get comfortable on his year-old Ducati after a heavy crash in last winter's Valencia test ruled him out of both that and the subsequent Jerez running.
"We were stuck with the settings Ducati gave us, I didn't feel good at any track," said Bautista.
"In the first three races I struggled a lot but in Jerez we changed the bike and everything worked.
"It seems like another rider racing for me, it's incredible.
"I'm starting to feel much better with the bike, the bike's starting to go in the same direction as me.
"More confidence race by race and in the end we are arriving at the top."
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