Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi Swap Rides on Track
Watch as two of the most dominant motorsport legends of our generation race each other’s vehicles for the first time!
Haven’t heard of Valentino Rossi? We might forgive you. Haven’t heard of Lewis Hamilton? We won’t forgive you. These two indisputable legends of racing are some of the important figures in their respective disciplines. They will both go down as being iconic figures, providing dominant performances of skill and technique throughout years of racing. Lewis Hamilton is Formula 1‘s current champion and has been since 2017. This 2019 season marked his sixth championship and his third in a row. Some consider him to be the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, if not, one of the greatest without doubt.
Rossi shares in Hamilton’s success as a racing superstar. However, Rossi has made his fame as a MotoGP champion (aka Formula 1’s equivalent for motorcycles). He has won a total of 7 MotoGP championships and most notably, done so in a dominant fashion. He managed to win the 5 consecutive world titles back to back within 2001 and 2005 and continues to race in the sport today. While both drivers might be considered beyond their “prime” years, neither shows signs of slowing down. Don’t believe us? Watch as both of these legends of motorsport swap wheels for the first time ever at Circuit de Valencia in Spain. Thanks to Motor Sport on YouTube, we get to take part in this amazing occasion.
Rossi, according to the video, was “nervous” to take a seat in Hamilton’s title-winning 2017 Mercedes, but we don’t believe him. We see a fun bit of interaction between the two racing drivers as they explain quirks and give tips on handling each other’s weapons. We have to say it did put a smile on our face to see Rossi’s signature helmet inside of the Mercedes cockpit. Hamilton, an avid motorcycle rider and fan of MotoGP, was excited to get on two wheels. He looked very comfortable as he slammed through gears on Rossi’s 2019 Yamaha YZR-M1.
Lin Jarvis, team principal of the Yamaha factory MotoGP team, states that both driver’s “human skillset…is common, so its fantastic to watch”. We couldn’t agree more. Maybe we’ll see some contracts being drawn up after this one? Not too many times in a life will we see legends such as these come together. We are happy we were around to experience just a little bit of it. We hope you did too.
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