Reigning F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton says he is building up to a ride on a MotoGP bike - more than likely a Yamaha given the sponsors they share - but still needs more track time on lower-powered machinery.
The works Mercedes driver, who has been in attendance at the Qatar season opener, has already had circuit time with Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark at Jerez, and now wants to experience MotoGP.
“100 percent I’m going to ride one, I’m building up to it. I need more days 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,” said Hamilton.
It is thought that Monster and Petronas are pushing for a swap between Hamilton and Valentino Rossi. It would not be Rossi’s first rodeo as he took part in a high-profile tests with Ferrari in 2008 and 2010.
Driving a 2008-spec Ferrari on GP2 tyres in 2010, Rossi got within 0.1sec of Kimi Raikkonen’s 2008 pole position time at the Barcelona circuit, although direct comparisons are difficult given the different conditions and configurations of the cars.
