Following Liberty Media’s recent announcement that it would be acquiring motorcycle racing’s Grand Prix series, Lewis Hamilton declared that it would be “epic” if Formula 1 and MotoGP shared race weekends in the future.
Since Formula 1’s owners announced they would be purchasing an 86% stake in Dorna Sports, the owners of MotoGP, Hamilton’s passion for the sport is well known. Should the deal go through as planned, both the top divisions of two-wheel and four-wheel racing will be owned by the same company. Hamilton has previously traded machinery with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.
Lewis Hamilton: It would be “epic” if the MotoGP and F1 shared weekends.The series was valued at €4.2 billion (£3.7 billion) in the agreement with Liberty Media and MotoGP, and Carlos Ezpeleta, the series’ current sporting director, did not completely rule out the possibility of Formula 1 and MotoGP sharing race weekends in the future when Liberty Media owned the series.
The two classes race in a number of the same locations throughout the season, including Silverstone, Qatar, Circuit of The Americas, and Barcelona, but it is unlikely that both series will be present on the same weekend in the near future.
Hamilton said that he had not given Liberty’s reported ownership of MotoGP much thought, but he is excited about the possibility of seeing both championships during the same race weekend.
“I didn’t really think a lot about it, obviously I read the headlines about it,” he told media in Suzuka when asked about Liberty Media’s takeover.
“I think Liberty have done an amazing job with Formula 1, obviously the value of the thing [rising] so I think they can do a great job with MotoGP.
“It’s exciting because I love MotoGP. It would be epic if we can have them on the same weekend.”
He then added with a smile, even though he admitted it might be an “impossible” prospect: “Maybe I could do a race in MotoGP and race a Formula 1 car on the same weekend – that would be really cool!”
Hamilton has endured a difficult start to his final season with Mercedes, earning a ninth place finish last time out in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
