Valentino Rossi: I’m too old for Formula 1

Retired MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi makes his GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) championship debut this weekend: The Doctor will start on Sunday in Imola in the Belgian WRT team’s Audi R8 LMS GT3.

And the day before, he spoke via video link with Lewis Hamilton, who was in Geneva, at the headquarters of the watch company IWC, the sponsor of the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The two riders have known each other for a long time and Lewis congratulated the Italian on his upcoming debut: “Hello, Vale! Looks like you’ll never leave the racetracks!”

“I’m in a good mood, a new adventure is about to begin and the second chapter of my career will be behind the wheel of race cars,” Rossi replied.

But when Hamilton, slyly smiling, asked a colleague when to expect him in Formula 1, Valentino said honestly: “I think I’m too old for this.”

He and Lewis have 16 championship titles for two, and during the conversation they recalled taking part in special tests in Valencia in 2019: Rossi drove one of the Mercedes cars Hamilton drove in Formula 1, and the Briton saddled the mighty Yamaha MotoGP motorcycle.

“I’ve loved motorcycles since I was a kid and I remember watching motorcycle races on TV with my father,” said Lewis.

“These two sports are closely related,” Valentino shared his opinion. “We were often on the same tracks and we had to think about where to slow down in corners, how to set up the technique.”

“And yet we go through corners in different ways,” concluded Hamilton. – When flying, you generally always have to anticipate the development of events, which can happen after a few turns. When it comes to MotoGP, when I see riders flying on two wheels at a speed of 360 km/h, I am overcome with incredible, incomparable emotions.”