You are here

Wolff on Hamilton's test with Yamaha: "He lapped 4 seconds behind the MotoGP riders"

It was 2018 and Lewis had gone to Jerez to ride an R1 SBK: "He didn't tell me anything. I couldn't contact him. Then, one of his engineers confessed to me that Lewis had fallen."

News: Wolff on Hamilton's test with Yamaha:

Who knows if Hamilton - now that he rides a red four-wheel - plans to test a two-wheel, as well. It wouldn't be surprising because Sir Lewis has always been a motorcycle enthusiast and has already had a chance to get on a MotoGP bike, when he swapped places with Valentino Rossi in Valencia at the end of 2019 (SEE VIDEO HERE), entrusting the Doctor with his F1 Mercedes so that he could try out the Yamaha M1.

And, even recently, his name has been mentioned with motorcycle racing: first as a possible buyer of the Gresini team, then as being interested in KTM, rumors which were all denied.

The fact remains that his passion for motorcycles comes from afar, and Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff told an interesting anecdote, dating back to 2018, during the Armchair Expert podcast.

Hamilton had gotten permission from the team to ride motorcycles on the track, and a test in Jerez, on a Yamaha R1 SBK, was arranged without telling anyone, not even Wolff. "They didn't notify me," the manager recalled. "He went with the strategy director and one of his engineers who was particularly passionate about motorcycles. There was no way of contacting them during those two days."

When he was able to, there came the surprise: "I finally talked to his engineer, and he told me that everything was fine, that they had finished riding. And then he added, 'whatever you find out, just know that Lewis is fine.' When I asked him to explain, he told me that Hamilton had fallen."

Fortunately, it was a minor accident, but the British driver certainly didn't spare himself. "They told me that Lewis had lapped only four seconds behind the MotoGP riders," Wolff added. "That's an incredible achievement. His sensitivity to speed is the secret that makes Lewis a natural and, therefore, a champion."

 

Translated by Leila Myftija

Related articles

 
 
Privacy Policy