RaceFans Round-up: Liberty prompted Hamilton’s Moto GP interest

In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton offered to buy a Moto GP team because of Liberty Media’s attempt to take over the series.

In brief

Liberty prompted Hamilton’s Moto GP interest – Maffei

Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Formula 1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media, said their attempt to buy Moto GP led to Lewis Hamilton’s enquiry about purchasing a team.

“When we announced – it’s a great example – we had immediately people call up and say ‘I want to buy a team’, including people like Lewis Hamilton,” he told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference. “Why? Because they saw what had happened in Formula 1 and they want to follow.”

Liberty Media is awaiting the approval of the European Union, which must ensure the deal does not restrict competition. “We had major distributors call and say ‘we want to be involved’,” said Maffei. “Unfortunately I had to tell them we really can’t talk about it until we get EU approval, but we’d love to talk once we get it.”

Red Bull hires four teenagers

Red Bull has added four new members to its young driver programme, all of them teenagers under the age of 17. They are Christopher Feghali of Lebanon, Rocco Coronel of the Netherlands, Jules Caranta of France and Ernesto Rivera of Mexico.

Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko oversaw their selection after a series of runs in Formula 4 and GP3 chassis. “Bringing back Red Bull Driver Search has been an important step for our junior driver programme,” he said. “The invited drivers already highlighted promising young talent, and we remain dedicated to fostering our junior drivers to shape the future of motorsport.”

Verstappen names ideal Le Mans team mates

Max Verstappen named the three drivers he would most like to share a car with at Le Mans in a recent interview with Red Bull Esports racer Jarno Opmeer.

“One I would like to have in the team, I think definitely, is Nyck de Vries. He’s fast and he’s very light and at the moment, when you’re very fast and light around Le Mans, of course, is great.

“I keep joking with Fernando [Alonso] that we want to do it together, so that would be quite cool. So then we’ve got three drivers already. I keep telling as well my dad we have to do it. He doesn’t want to do it, but I would add him in as a fourth.”

Lloyd to race in Singapore

British Formula 4 racer Ella Lloyd will join the F1 Academy grid for its Singapore round next week. The 18-year-old will drive a wildcard entry carrying the branding of the series’ Discover Your Drive programme which promotes motorsport to young girls..

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