Jorge Lorenzo believes he will “not be short of offers” if he were to stage a full-time MotoGP comeback in the future, having retired at the end of the 2019 season.
The three-time MotoGP world champion hung up his leathers at the end of last year following a bruising sole season aboard the factory Honda.
In the winter, Lorenzo signed a deal with Yamaha – with whom he spent nine years and won all of his premier class titles – to become its official test rider, and is scheduled to make a one-off race return at the Catalan Grand Prix in June as a wildcard.
Numerous riders have questioned Lorenzo’s decision to contest a wildcard with Yamaha, while some – including KTM’s Pol Espargaro and former Honda team-mate Marc Marquez – believe retiring was a means to simply get away from the Honda.
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Commenting on this in an interview with Radio Catalunya while on lockdown in Dubai due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lorenzo said: “I have always said that the first intention was for the decision [to retire] to be final.
“But it can never be said that I will not drink from this water again.
“I was convinced, I had a long and successful career, but I also hurt myself a lot.
“Economically I have been fortunate to be able to save money and I can make the most of life doing other things.
“I feel like enjoying life and doing other things, but I am also lucky to be able to ride a MotoGP bike 16 or 18 days a year [as a test rider] and take the good from this profession and save myself from the bad.
“I think I have the perfect job right now.”
He added: “There are many opinions and you have to respect what everyone thinks.
“If in this case Pol believes this and says it with respect, I understand it.
“Personally, I think that if I wanted to compete again, I would not be short of offers.
“But right now it is not the case and I am fine as I am.”
Lorenzo has so far only ridden the Yamaha for two days, during February’s Sepang shakedown and official Sepang test – though only circulated on the 2019-spec M1.