Rossi: Lorenzo wise to stay at Yamaha

Although Lorenzo said he had an offer to move to Ducati, the Spaniard decided to extend his contract with the Japanese manufacturer for another year, staying as Rossi's team-mate.

"I think Lorenzo has made the smartest choice: at the moment the Yamaha isn't the quickest bike but it's the one with the best balance and speed in turns," Rossi was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Obviously it would be interesting to see him riding another bike like when I switched from Honda to Yamaha."

The Italian, however, questioned the usefulness of the 'wall' separating his and Lorenzo's garage as the team continues with the policy of not sharing information between the two riders.

"Honestly I don't know if the wall is the best way to manage two riders like us, and besides I'm not sure it's so useful since the computers are open so you happen to glance over," he said.

"In a team it's always difficult to avoid telling your team-mate what you're doing, it would be an open secret. Fact is, I set up the bike that is also used by Lorenzo. Anyway, long live the wall!"

Despite that, Lorenzo reckons he will benefit more from staying at Yamaha and learn from his seven-time champion team-mate.

"The Ducati offer was good from a financial point of view, but I was especially stimulated by the sporting aspect," he said. "However, I know Yamaha very well after these two years, it's a company that has kept all the promises it has made me. Especially Lin Jarvis pushed a lot for me to stay.

"The risk, in both cases (going to Honda or Ducati), was higher than staying with Yamaha. At 22 years of age I prefer to stay here: I haven't won a title yet, I need to learn from Valentino. I can learn more things by racing next to him."

He added: "Yamaha is a very serious marque that from 2006 pushed hard for me to race with them. At the moment with the M1 Yamaha has the best balanced bike in the series.

"Had the financial aspect been very important, for 2010 I would be wearing red."