Fiat Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has thrown some more fuel on the never-ending fires about a Valentino Rossi’s rumored switch to Formula One racing. Fiat as you might remember is the title sponsor of the factory Yamaha MotoGP team, and also the parent company to Ferrari. In what he calls a “great idea”, di Montezemolo made it clear that he would like to see the seven-time World Champion driving for Corse Rosa.
After watching perhaps the greatest driver of all-time defect from Ferrari to Mercedes-Benz, Fiat (and Ferrari) are eager to have another mantle that they can hang their laurels on – enter Valentino Rossi.
Rossi would reportedly drive a third car in the Formula One Championship, perhaps as a satellite driver. Talking to CNN, Ferrari’s official position on a third Rossi car is that “the possibility for the major manufacturers to provide the private teams with a third car would be very effective in order to increase the appeal of Formula One,” he said. “The potential involvement of such a extraordinary champion as Valentino Rossi would be even more helpful.”
That’s a pretty glowing and inviting response from the teams and companies behind the proposed move, but of course there’s one person we’re still remaining to hear from in this rumor: Valentino Rossi himself.
Rossi has tested Formula One cars time and time again, but has always been cautious about his prospects in the series. Despite having little seat time in the carts, Rossi has shown himself to be a skilled driver, and of course he only has this season remaining on his contract, which is up for renewal. Will Rossi make the switch to Formula One, or is this just another chapter in what could become one of the greatest silly seasons we’ve seen in MotoGP for a long time? Only time will tell, but we’re guessing that as long as the Italian two-wheeled Champion is winning races, he’ll remain in MotoGP.
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