It's no secret that seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton is a huge motorcycle fan, and he's pretty handy on them, too. As an avid two-wheeled track day enthusiast, owner of an impressive bike collection, and even helped design a limited-edition MV Agusta range.
Oh, and he rode a MotoGP bike with Valentino Rossi a while back before giving Rossi the keys to his F1 machine to spin a few laps.
According to Hamilton, "I have always loved bikes... When I was younger, I wanted to race bikes, not cars, but my dad wouldn’t let me - he said they were too dangerous... He got me into four wheels rather than two. It was the right choice because if I was racing during the time Vale was there, I wouldn’t have been so successful."
But now, Hamilton seemingly has his sites set on buying one of the most historied independent MotoGP teams ever—Gresini Racing.
Rumors have been floating around since the start of the Dutch TT weekend at Assen that Hamilton would like to acquire Gresini from its current team boss, Nadia Padovani, and one of Hamilton's inner circle was believed to have been in attendance with Gresisni at Assen.
Now, if you're a MotoGP fan, as Hamilton is, Gresini is one of the most interesting teams you can set your sights on. Its history dates back to the mid-1990s and featured riders such as Daijiro Kato, Toni Elias, and Jorge Martin in the lower classes, and MotoGP legends like Sete Gibernau, Marco Melandri, Simoncelli, and most recently Marc Marquez.
But something tells me there's a lot more than Hamilton's love of motorcycles fueling this decision, and it rhymes with "smiberty mebia".
Liberty Media is in the process of acquiring MotoGP and a range of other motorcycle racing series. The deal should be finalized by the year's end. And if Liberty's success in turning around the declining popularity of Formula 1 is anything to go buy, purchasing a MotoGP team now is one of the best investments you can make.
Right now, Gresini runs 2023 model Ducati machinery, but with a whole new ruleset starting in 2027, the playing field could be more even. At least for a while. So purchasing Gresini now, before Liberty Media and the new 2027 regulations take effect, could turn out to be a very shrewd financial decision.
Considering the fact that he's likely to get the backing of current Mercedes team sponsors, such as Petronas and Monster Energy, it's likely to be less of a financial risk to Hamilton, making this a win-win.
But is now the best time to buy a MotoGP team in terms of ROI? And if it occurs, do you think Marc Marquez would be kicking himself for leaving for Ducati? Let us know in the comments what you think about potentially seeing Hamilton as the owner of Gresini, and if you think we're likely to see more moves like this before the end of 2024.
