Lorenzo, who enjoyed a famously difficult relationship with his previous teammate Valentino Rossi at Yamaha, is currently in his second year alongside Dovizioso at Ducati – with both their deals up for renewal at the end of 2018.

The Spanish rider's comments regarding his teammate come a day after Dovizioso pointed the finger at Ducati when asked about the delay in extending his contract – and also claimed he would not be surprised if Lorenzo departed the Italian manufacturer.

"Dovi is very intelligent, isn't he?," Lorenzo said sarcastically in an interview with Movistar TV. "He basically knows everything.

"Dovi has always, during my whole career, tried to undermine my morale. And he's still doing it as my teammate, that's nothing new to me.

"He's always trying it, if you look at him. It's the relationship he has through the press with me. But it's all okay."

Lorenzo and Dovizioso were championship rivals in 125cc and 250cc over a decade ago, with the former twice defeating the latter to win the intermediate-class title.

They became MotoGP teammates for the first time in 2017, with Lorenzo joining Ducati on a deal worth a reported 12 million euros a year - while Dovizioso's base salary for that same period is understood to be under two million.

The Italian, however, has markedly outperformed his world champion teammate in their time at Ducati so far, having finished runner-up to Honda's Marc Marquez last year and currently leading the 2018 points standings after his triumph in the Qatar opener.

Lorenzo continued: "He [Dovizioso] is a quiet person. We have a cordial relationship and everything is fine in that sense.

"We are here to win races and championships and friendship is found elsewhere, not in the paddock."

On Thursday, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi said the manufacturer was "pretty confident" of keeping hold of Dovizioso, but admitted it had not yet begun talks with Lorenzo.

And while the Borgo Panigale firm has repeatedly spoken of wanting to keep hold of both its riders, there is now growing uncertainty over Lorenzo's future with the team.