Andrea Iannone says he has offers to stay in MotoGP outside of Suzuki for the 2019 season, although he insists re-signing with the Japanese marque remains his first choice.
Iannone joined Suzuki in 2017 but had a troublesome first year with the Japanese manufacturer, and has started his 2018 campaign with ninth and eighth in Qatar and Argentina respectively.
With Suzuki keen to retain Alex Rins, who took a maiden MotoGP podium last time out in Argentina, and also targeting Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo, Iannone will likely depart Suzuki at the end of 2018.
In an interview with MotoGP.com, Iannone revealed that he has proposals from outside of Suzuki, but stated his "priority" would be to remain with his current team.
"For sure we discuss about my future and also the future of Suzuki, but I don't talk only with Suzuki," said Iannone. "I have other proposals, but always the priority is continue with this team.
"The group is fantastic, also with the Japanese people I have a really good feeling, we started the construction of a really good situation.
"I have a big challenge with me also, I want to arrive on the top with Suzuki because I came here for this."
Schwantz: Iannone "can't figure it out"
Suzuki ambassador and 1993 500cc world champion Kevin Schwantz has often been critical of Iannone, and has already urged Suzuki to replace Iannone in the past.
In a recent Motorsport.com interview, Schwantz likened to Iannone to Wayne Rainey's former Yamaha teammate John Kocinski, another rider he felt was "no good" at bike development.
"Iannone’s not the right choice on the other Suzuki," the American said. "Now that Rins is up to speed and showing us his full potential, I think he will develop as a rider in terms of giving his input and being able to help.
"The other guy has never been any good at it. Everybody he’s ever ridden for will tell you that.
"At Ducati, he had the perfect scenario, where he had the best development rider, [Andrea] Dovizioso, as his teammate.
"He could ride like s*** all weekend long, not try anything, not get anything accomplished and then just say, ‘Give me what Dovi’s got. I’ll be faster than him.’
"Wayne Rainey used to say the same thing about Kocinski. He never wanted to do the hard work – he just used to say, ‘I’ll go with what Wayne likes’.
"You’ve got to figure this out by yourself. And maybe that was John’s problem, he couldn’t figure it out, just like Andrea couldn’t."
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