I've written about this topic before, i.e that motorcycle riders make better drivers due to their heightened awareness of the goings on in the world around them. I mean, it makes sense. Riding a bike and understanding the dynamics of said motorcycle legit make the difference between living and dying.
But more than that, you understand braking, turning, and acceleration that much more as you only have two contact patches. Throttle control is much more finite and finicky to get right. And you're moving with the bike, rather than just a steering wheel. Grip is that much more present and knowable.
And while there've been a handful of professional racing drivers who've said as much in conversations I've had with them, few are as definitive as Mercedes-AMG F1's team boss, Toto Wolff, who recently sat down with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on the Armchair Expert, where Wolff recalled the famous Valentino Rossi and Lewis Hamilton switcheroo.
Suffice it to say, Wolff had nothing but praise for the Doctor and his abilities behind the wheel of an F1 car.
The fun starts at the 1:11.35 mark of the video, where Dax, Monica and Toto begin talking about Lewis and Valentino swapping race vehicles, with Dax asking Toto whether he was present on the day of. Toto recalls that he actually had to give the green light to the whole event, as Lewis and his lead engineer skived off previously to play with motorcycles, only for Lewis to fall off. He was uninjured, but Toto was more watchful of the two after.
Toto concedes, however, that Lewis is "the annoying kid in school who does everything right," as Dax agrees Lewis was fast on the bike. In fact, Lewis was only four seconds a lap slower than the MotoGP pros who ride these bikes day in and day out. That's impressive as hell. It's also easy to see why Hamilton's been linked to rescuing KTM's MotoGP team.
Yet, it's Valentino's four-wheel accumen that had both Dax and Toto's admiration.
"[Valentino] was not terribly far off Lewis in the car. I thought what he did in the car was kinda mind-blowing," states Dax, with Toto adding, "I think for motor bike guys it's easier to drive a car fast than for car people [to drive a bike fast] because it's just so much more complicated with the balance..." as Dax intejects, "I think the braking on a motorcycle takes some real work," with Toto agreeing.
Toto then says something about both Hamilton and Rossi, "They're from a special breed who are never satisfied. Never." And it makes sense, both of these guys are at the top of their field. They're competitors through and through. And whatever you give them, whether it's a bike or an F1 car, they're going to be quick. That's not to say every F1 driver could run a MotoGP bike or vice versa. But these two? They're magic.
