Former MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo believes he could have taken a fourth title in 2019 had he remained with Ducati and not made a fateful swap to Honda.

The Mallorcan, who retired at the end of last season, had a torrid year and a half with the Bologna team but finally turned it all around with a maiden and fairytale win for the team at Mugello and then another next time out at Barcelona - his first back-to-back wins since 2016.

However, it was too late as the strain on the relationship was already too much.

"They had invested a lot in me, I had won three world championships and I was worth the financial effort," said Lorenzo.

After a year-and-a-half, we still hadn't won a race. If I had won at Misano, maybe the story would have changed.

“They came up with financial reasons, Petrucci would have cost less and he was Italian. Too bad, because there was no patience to wait and maybe everything was decided too soon.

"At that moment we found the thing that allowed us to win, but it was too late. In 2019 we could have fought for the championship."