Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton is understood to be in talks with Gresini Racing about buying the Ducati MotoGP team.
In a move first suggested by The Race sources at the start of the Dutch TT weekend in Assen, and since confirmed by several people familiar with the team's workings, Hamilton has expressed interest in acquiring Gresini from current team principal Nadia Padovani.
It is believed that a member of Hamilton's inner circle was present with Gresini in Assen last weekend, as the current Mercedes driver and his representatives explored the commercial viability of taking over the team at a key time in MotoGP history.
MotoGP is currently under takeover by Liberty Media, the owners of F1, so it would be ideal for Liberty if F1's most famous driver – who has his own motorcycle collection and is a huge MotoGP fan – was heavily involved in its new two-wheeled venture.
This should in theory be an ideal 'crossover' if Liberty wants to convert some of F1's huge fanbase into MotoGP fans – provided competition regulators approve its takeover, with a decision expected later this year.
The deal would also allow Hamilton to gain significant financial assets with very little financial risk for himself too, with a number of his current team sponsors and personal Mercedes already involved in MotoGP and likely to be easily persuaded to back his new venture too, with names such as Petronas and Monster Energy as obvious potential partners given their own history in MotoGP.
Gresini is one of the most iconic teams in MotoGP, dating back to the mid-1990s, leading the likes of Daijiro Kato, Toni Elias and Jorge Martin to titles in the lower classes while stars such as Sete Gibernau, Marco Melandri and the late Marco Simoncelli battled for MotoGP titles and race wins with Gresini.
The Aprilia team became the factory team in 2015, then was taken over by Padovani in 2021 following the death of her husband and team founder Fausto Gresini.
Gresini returned to independent mode with his Ducati machines for 2022 and has gone from strength to strength since then, scoring victories in comprehensive and fast races with Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez before successfully signing six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez from Honda for 2024.
In addition to his personal bike collection, Hamilton is also a motorcycle racing enthusiast, and previously had a deal with MV Agusta, which produced limited edition bikes he helped design.
Hamilton has had the opportunity to ride MotoGP machinery in the past, when he swapped places with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi at Valencia in 2019 through joint sponsors Monster and Petronas.
There, he rode Rossi's Yamaha M1 alongside the nine-time world champion before Rossi got the chance to test Hamilton's Mercedes W08 F1 car.
“I’ve always loved bikes,” Hamilton said at the time. “When I was younger I wanted to race bikes, not cars, but my dad wouldn’t let me – he said it was too dangerous!
“He made me ride a quad bike instead of a two-wheeler. It was the right choice, because if I had been racing at the time Vale was there, I wouldn’t have had this success.
“Since I started racing in Formula 1, I have had a superbike and I love spending some days on the track. It’s great and gives me a different perspective.”
The move to the MotoGP World Championship will not be the first time Hamilton has been involved in sports team ownership, whether in motorsport or in other ventures.
He was the owner of the X44, which until this season competed in the Extreme E electric off-road racing series, winning the 2022 title with Dakar Rally stage winner Cristina Gutierrez and nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb.
Hamilton is also part of the ownership group that acquired the NFL's Denver Broncos in 2022, partnering with former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to join the investment group run by Walmart heir Rob Walton as they acquired the team that won the 2014 Super Bowl.
