F1 and MotoGP together: Hamilton would find it « epic »!
At the Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton said he would welcome combined F1 and MotoGP events.
Liberty Media, which has held the commercial rights to F1 since 2017, announced in early April that it had acquired an 86% stake in Dorna Sports and MotoGP as part of ‘a transaction valued at 4.2 billion euros’.
Following this, the MotoGP Dorna’s Sports Director, Carlos Ezpeleta, stated that his organization did not rule out the possibility of future race weekends shared with Formula 1.
During the recent Japanese Grand Prix, Autosport asked Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, a MotoGP fan, if he would welcome combined F1 and MotoGP events.
« I haven’t really thought much about it, [but] obviously, I’ve read the headlines about it,” he replied. « I think Liberty has done an incredible job with Formula 1, especially in terms of its rising popularity since 2017. So, I think they can do an excellent job with MotoGP. »
« It’s exciting because I love MotoGP. It would be epic if we could have them on the same weekend ». The British driver had even raced with the legendary MotoGP rider, Valentino Rossi, a few years ago for their energy drink sponsor .
Hamilton then joked: « maybe I could do a race in MotoGP and drive a Formula 1 car on the same weekend, that would be really cool », before adding that such a situation would be, according to him, « impossible ». Even though some, like John Surtees, have been champions on two and four wheels…
A conceivable idea?
The idea of shared events between F1 and MotoGP seems unlikely in the short term and would only work on larger sites where both categories already race, such as the Austin circuit where MotoGP also races, rather than on the many new urban F1 tracks.
The English media also asked Hamilton if his interests outside of F1 were now more important to him given the challenges his Mercedes team is facing as it strives to return to fighting for victories in Grand Prix races.
« I think that in the end, if you dwell on difficult moments, you will have only one way to go. I think it’s really good to be able to unplug, reset your focus and goals to move forward. But the ultimate thing that keeps me up at night is: when will we fight again for victory? » The answer, failing to be within his grasp, will depend on the progress of the Mercedes or lack thereof.
