Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has not confirmed that he is interested in buying a MotoGP team in the near future, but he did not rule out the possibility on Thursday ahead of the F1 British Grand Prix.
“I’ve always loved MotoGP,” he said. “I’m interested in the potential growth of the sport, but I haven’t really delved into that yet. But anything is possible.” This week, reports surfaced in British media that he was interested in buying the Gresini team.
“Maybe I’m thinking about buying an F1 team”
Marc Marquez, jokingly
“I’m really interested in owning teams and with the Broncos (Denver’s NFL American football franchise, in which he invested in 2022), I’ve already put a foot in that area,” Lewis Hamilton added. “So I think in the next five or ten years there may be more (investments in teams). We’ll see where it will be.”
The rumor also caused a reaction from riders in the MotoGP paddock on Thursday ahead of the German Grand Prix. “If it’s true, it’s good for our sport. And even if it’s not true, it’s good (laughs) because people are talking about MotoGP but we’ll see. Maybe I’m thinking about buying an F1 team,” joked Spaniard Marc Marquez, six-time MotoGP world champion.
“It would be huge if we could have (F1 and MotoGP) in the same weekend”
Jorge Martin, the current leader of the Championship, also welcomed a possible arrival of Hamilton in the premier discipline of motorcycling: “I think if it happens, it will be interesting, because the sport is growing. (…) The coming years will be really interesting for us, for MotoGP. And if someone like Hamilton, who is a very iconic person, wants to buy a team, it is because something is changing, so I am quite happy about that.”
Last April, Lewis Hamilton said he was a big fan of MotoGP, when Liberty Media, which owns the rights to Formula 1, bought those of MotoGP. “I think Liberty have done an incredible job with Formula 1, its value (which has increased a lot since its purchase in 2017),” he said. “So I think they can do a great job with MotoGP. It’s great because I love MotoGP. It would be huge if we could have them (both disciplines) in the same weekend.”
