Lewis Hamilton “secretly” took half in a Superbike take a look at – throughout which he crashed, Toto Wolff recalled.
Seven-time System 1 champion Hamilton scared his F1 boss with two days of radio silence in 2018 when he linked up with the Crescent Racing squad at Jerez.
His love of motorbike racing is well-known. In addition to having his personal signature MV Agusta mannequin, Hamilton took half in a journey swap with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi in 2019, whereas within the final 12 months he has been linked to investing in two MotoGP groups.
Six years in the past, simply after he’d gained his fifth F1 crown, Hamilton took half in a two-day take a look at at Jerez on a YZF-R1 Superbike overseen by the Crescent Racing World Superbike Championship squad.
Michael van der Mark, then a Yamaha WSBK rider, instructed motorsport.com on the time that Hamilton needed to be instructed to decelerate as a result of “he was not afraid in any respect”.
Wolff revealed that he couldn’t come up with Hamilton – who’d finished the take a look at secretly – for 2 days and wasn’t conscious that he’d crashed.
Requested if he was there for the journey swap in 2019 in Valencia with Rossi and Hamilton, Wolff instructed the Armchair Professional podcast: “No, however I needed to give permission. So, I gave it and I believe they each loved it so much.
“Lewis is the annoying child in class who does the whole lot proper and quick.
“I’ll let you know a narrative about biking. Secretly – they didn’t inform me – they went testing in Jerez and certainly one of my heads of technique was a motorcycle man, one of many engineers, and I couldn’t pay money for him for 2 days.
“After which calling Lewis, his engineer picked up and mentioned ‘it’s all good, all is okay, we’ve simply completed biking and simply no matter you hear he’s superb’.
“I mentioned ‘what occurred?’ He fell. However he was 4 seconds off the MotoGP execs solely.
“Unbelievable. The physique feeling he has is what makes him a champion.”
Hamilton was unharmed from his crash.
Wolff’s remark is tough to confirm as there was no official timing launched, although needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as van der Mark mentioned on the time: “I do know he might be a lot quicker, but it surely’s troublesome to foretell what he may do on a motorbike.
“He has solely ridden 4 days now and he was about seven seconds slower than us [the Yamaha WSBK riders]. With that, he’s quicker than most different observe day riders.”
Earlier in 2018, Hamilton rode a Superbike in a Monster Power occasion with three-time MotoGP race winner Cal Crutchlow in California.
In latest weeks, KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer revealed in an interview with Speedweek that the struggling Austrian agency had held “concrete” discussions with Hamilton’s administration about potential funding.
Hamilton strikes to Ferrari in F1 for the 2025 season.
