The much-awaited F1 and MotoGP swap between Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi took place at Valencia and here’s all what happened.
Both their sponsor Monster Energy had been trying to get Hamilton and Rossi on the same track to try each other’s machinery with Petronas wanting the same, although, for the latter, it wouldn’t have been the MotoGP champion along with the F1 champ.
Since Petronas only supports Yamaha’s satellite outfit, the swap would have had Fabio Quartararo and or Franco Morbidelli, but Monster Energy won the bid to have Hamilton and Rossi together as the former finally got his first taste of a MotoGP machine.
Mercedes had its 2017 F1 W08 for Rossi, while Yamaha brought its 2019 YZR-M1 for Hamilton on December 9 at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. It was all secret until Wednesday when photos and videos were finally released for the public.
There were two videos where one was just over six minutes, while another condensed one was over three minutes. The video started showcasing the circuit as Hamilton greeted Rossi. Both then explained the smaller details of their bike and car to each other.
Rossi was first up in the Mercedes as Hamilton watched on as the Brit then rode the Yamaha as the Italian watched on. Both reflected about their respective runs to each other as well, as Yamaha MotoGP chief Lin Jarvis spoke about the two.
It was time for Rossi and Hamilton to get on their respective Yamaha M1’s and tour around together as the F1 star followed the MotoGP legend, with Mercedes’ James Vowles speaking up ahead of the final part of the day where both had each other’s machine on track.
Rossi was in the Mercedes W08 while Hamilton on the Yamaha M1 to conclude the one-day event as there were smiles all around to capture the historic moment.
The longer video can be found here:
The shorter video has been uploaded on the MotoGP website, here.
Here’s the thoughts from Valentino Rossi and Lewis Hamilton