Lewis Hamilton ‘in talks’ to buy Gresini MotoGP team

The Ducati satellite team, currently owned and operated by Nadia Padovani, is seen as a good investment opportunity following the news that Liberty Media will acquire MotoGP in a €4.2 billion (US$4.5 billion) deal.

A member of Hamilton’s entourage was present at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Assen as a guest of Gresini Racing, according to reports.

This would not be the first time the British driver has branched out into team ownership in other motorsport series. His X44 team were a founding member of Extreme E, although dropped out of the electric off-road SUV championship before the start of this season.

The Formula One legend was also part of the group that purchased the National Football League’s (NFL) Denver Broncos, acquiring a minority stake as part of Rob Walton’s US$4.65 billion takeover.

Gresini Racing were founded by Fausto Gresini in 1997 and initially competed in the lower categories of two-wheeled racing before stepping up to MotoGP in 2002. The team operated independently until it became the factory Aprilia team in 2015.

The outfit’s founder passed away in 2021, with ownership passing to his wife Padovani. The next season, the team switched back to being an independent outfit as a satellite Ducati team. This has seen the Faenza-based team go from strength to strength, topped off by the signing of MotoGP icon Marc Márquez this season.

A long-time MotoGP fan, it makes sense on a personal level for Hamilton to be showing interest in team ownership in the series.

But this goes far beyond the Brit being a fan. With Liberty Media in the process of acquiring the series, pending regulatory approval, MotoGP appears poised to explode in popularity – at least if the overhaul of Formula One is anything to go by.

The potential for collaboration is obvious and Liberty can lean on Hamilton to tempt swathes of Formula One fans to try the two-wheeled alternative.

It is a low-risk opportunity for Hamilton as well. Many of his brand partners, such as Monster Energy and Petronas, are already in MotoGP and should likely not take much convincing to switch to a potential Hamilton-run team.

If a takeover proves successful, this will be a very early win for Liberty Media as it seeks to capitalise on the untapped potential of MotoGP.