Breaking news
MotoGP
Hamilton "building up" towards "dream" MotoGP test
Reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton says he is “building up” towards a “dream” first MotoGP test, accepting he first needs more mileage on a racing bike.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: Mar 10, 2019, 7:04 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Monster Energy, which sponsors Hamilton as well as the Yamaha MotoGP factory team, is pushing for a ride swap between him and seven-time premier-class champion Valentino Rossi – but Mercedes F1 sponsor Petronas also has its sights on a MotoGP test for Hamilton.
Hamilton was in attendance for qualifying for MotoGP's opening round of 2019 in Qatar as a guest of the Petronas-backed SRT Yamaha team, and has joked he may “nag Petronas to give me a ride on one of their bikes”.
Asked whether a MotoGP run was indeed a goal of his, Hamilton told motogp.com: “100 percent I'm going to ride one, I'm building up to it.
“I need more days [on a bike] firstly because I've only had two-and-a-half kind of days on the track, but eventually I'd love to try a MotoGP bike. That's the dream.
“I watch it every weekend it's on. Even when I'm on a grand prix weekend, I'm jumping out of my meetings before and after [F1] qualifying so I can watch the qualifying here.”
Hamilton trialled a Yamaha World Superbike R1 machine in a two-day test at Jerez last year, riding alongside works riders Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes.
Embedded within the Petronas SRT team this weekend in Qatar, he was seen sitting in on a post-qualifying debrief for its rider Franco Morbidelli.
“To meet Lewis was a great experience for me,” Morbidelli said. “I enjoyed a lot, and I was very surprised to see how he is as a person – he's a great person, very humble, very interested in this sport, very passionate.
“He did many questions about riding, about how is the bike, what you do here, what you do there, how the tyre consumption is.
“It was just nice, and it was a pity to not have enough time to speak more with him. But I enjoyed the moment, and I hope he enjoyed as well to live this moment inside the pitbox and to see how the two-wheel riders act.”
Morbidelli's teammate Fabio Quartararo, who qualified fifth on his MotoGP debut, said meeting his “F1 idol” Hamilton contributed to what was “one of the most beautiful days of my career”.
Additional reporting by Khodr Rawi
11
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rossi: Poor race pace means Qatar comeback unlikely
Next article MotoGP riders powerless in Qatar start time row - Crutchlow
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
More from
SIC Racing Team
Yamaha explains why Morbidelli wasn’t given factory bike
MotoGP
MotoGP
Yamaha explains why Morbidelli wasn’t given factory bike
Morbidelli felt he was Yamaha's ‘lowest-rated’ rider
MotoGP
MotoGP
Morbidelli felt he was Yamaha's ‘lowest-rated’ rider
Morbidelli: ‘A-spec’ Yamaha not an advantage in 2021
MotoGP
MotoGP
Morbidelli: ‘A-spec’ Yamaha not an advantage in 2021
Latest news
Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
32 min
Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'
"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?
DTM
DTM DTM
Hockenheim
1 h
"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
2 h
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe