Lewis Hamilton in ‘concrete’ talks over buying Red Bull-linked MotoGP race team

Lewis Hamilton is gearing up for a new Formula 1 adventure driving for Ferrari and could also soon get involved in the running of a MotoGP outfit in need of investment.

Lewis Hamilton has held “concrete discussions” over investment in the KTM MotoGP squad, the company’s motorsport director Pit Beirer has claimed.

KTM has competed in MotoGP since its debut season in 2017. However, the Austria-based parent company has encountered financial difficulties and could be forced to sell off or close its motorsport arm as part of its self-administration process.

But bosses remain confident – in public, at least – that they will still be on the MotoGP grid in 2025. And KTM is open to investment from outsiders in order to help make that happen.

According to Beirer, who spoke to the German-language website Speedweek, it is Hamilton, a seven-time world champion in Formula 1, who could be an interested party. “All I can say is that we have had very interesting discussions with his management,” he said.

MotoGP is on the radar of every race car driver and it goes without saying that Lewis Hamilton wants to have his own team. Those are also here tangible. The current status has made us think creatively and ready for new conversations. Thus, we not only actively invite sponsors, as it has been done till now, but also investors.”

MotoGP and its feeder series is being signed by current F1 owners Liberty Media for about £3.5 billion at the moment. And the American company’s outgoing chief executive, Greg Maffei, recently admitted that Hamilton is eager to join the series.

I suggest MotoGP is one of the most thrilling products – that people believe it’s safe to ride motorcycles at 220 mph in inches from each other. And the over taking there is quite stunning.

It’s an exciting product. It is, unfortunately, one that is not nearly known enough in the United States, and around the world there is interest in Asia and places. But the real core of it has been Spain, Italy to some extent France. It may be developed further as I see it.

When we announced it, we had immediately people call up and say, ‘I want to buy a team’, including people like Lewis Hamilton. Why? They have seen what happened in Formula 1 and they want to emulate it.

‘We had major distributors call up and say, ‘We want to be involved’ and unfortunately I had to say ‘we really can’t talk about it until we get EU approval’’. We’d love to talk once we get it.”