There's been a lot of talk since Liberty Media, the folks who own Formula 1, bought MotoGP from Dorna earlier this year. Questions have swirled around ticket prices, technical regulation changes, personnel changes, additional teams, and what—if any—crossover would occur between the two top-spec series'.
One of the biggest questions on everyone's minds, however, has been in the latter's realm, i.e. would there be a double-header race weekend that sees both Formula 1 and MotoGP race together? So far, there's been nothing official from Liberty Media on the subject, but the two race at a handful of the same tracks, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.
No official statements, however, haven't stopped Formula 1's biggest star Lewis Hamilton from speaking out about the possibility of the two racing side-by-side during a weekend. And given Hamilton's previous experience with Valentino Rossi, you can guess where he sides on the subject.
“It's exciting [to see Liberty Media acquire the series] because I love MotoGP. It would be epic if we can have them on the same weekend," Hamilton told Motorsport. The F1 superstar then added, semi-joking, "Maybe I could do a race in MotoGP and race a Formula 1 car on the same weekend. That would be really cool." He then added that it'd likely be “impossible”.
I wouldn't count that out, however. It's Lewis Hamilton and if there was anyone on Earth that could make racing both Formula 1 and MotoGP on the same weekend happen, I'd put my money on him. At the very least, I could see him do a parade lap on a MotoGP bike. Wheelies would be had.
As alluded to above, Hamilton even swapped racers with Valentino Rossi during his final race years. Hamilton gave Rossi the keys to his F1 car, while Rossi gave Hamilton the keys to his MotoGP bike. And the two weren't terrible at each other's disciplines, but that's sort of what you'd expect from two of the most elite athletes on the planet, isn't it?
There were even rumors that Rossi was eyeing an F1 seat after his retirement.
The two series' share a couple of tracks, but when talking about it amongst the rest of the RideApart staff, the consensus of the track that made the most sense was Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The two currently have very separate schedules for the COTA race, with MotoGP taking the track over in April, with F1 having it in October.
But the two can swap dates around and Austin's track seems like a solid first outing for the two to try a double-header, as it has more than enough space to accommodate both. Though maybe that's my own wishful thinking?
