While MotoGP has always enjoyed its own ‘Silly Season,’ the time of year when drivers change teams, teams change drivers, and races either stay, leave, or are added to the calendar, Liberty Media’s acquisition of the series supercharged the insanity.
The owners of Formula 1 purchased a controlling stake in MotoGP earlier this year and, while not much has changed institutionally, within the teams, or the structure of the bikes given the upcoming rule changes as of yet, rumors have swirled about Silly Season-esque antics going on behind the scenes. One of the biggest rumors was that 7-time world Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton had expressed interest in becoming a team principal. And at the time, that’s all it was.
But a recent interview with Liberty Media’s Greg Maffei not only poured fuel on the fire of wild things going on behind the scenes, but he also confirmed that Hamilton said he wanted a team for himself. And let me be the first to say, I’d love to see what a Hamilton-driven MotoGP team could do on the grid.
Now, the report from Motorsport where Maffei told the crowd at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference of Hamilton’s interest doesn’t go into which team he’d be interested in buying, as most of the teams are spoken for at present. But he does go into why the F1 champ is looking at MotoGP.
“Why? Because they saw what had happened in Formula 1, and they want to follow,” said Maffei. “When we announced [the acquisition on MotoGP], it’s a great example, we had immediately people call up and say, ‘I want to buy a team’, including people like Lewis Hamilton,” he added.
The explosion in Formula 1 popularity occurred after the Liberty Media buyout, as well as the introduction to the sport by many through Netflix’s Drive to Survive docudrama. The latter of which wouldn’t have occurred without Liberty Media and its savvy media play. Folks, including Hamilton, are likely banking their interest in MotoGP on that potential explosion once again.
However, Hamilton’s interest is also likely spurred by his own motorcycling exploits.
The F1 champ is an avid motorcyclist, collector, and rider and even traded positions with Valentino Rossi a few years back with Rossi taking the wheel of Hamilton’s F1 car, and Hamilton Rossi’s MotoGP superbike. So it’s not just a ploy for further attention, cash, or whatever. Hamilton is a genuine MotoGP fan.
As for which team Hamilton would buy, that’s anyone’s guess. And given I’m anyone, here’s mine: Honda.
Yes, yes, I know, I know. That’s a BOLD prediction. But I’ll remind you again that Repsol, Honda’s main partner for decades recently pulled out of the series altogether. Like, it saw Honda’s recent flailing and said, “Nah, bro, we aren’t part of losers.” However, it’s still Honda we’re talking about and the brand knows a thing or two about building out a championship-winning superbike. What it needs, however, is someone to come in and right the ship.
Maybe that’s Hamilton?
