Lewis Hamilton has plenty of business ventures outside of his F1 career (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Lewis Hamilton is in “concrete discussions” about investing in the KTM MotoGP team, according to the company’s motorsport director Pit Beirer. The Austrian parent company of KTM has faced financial challenges and may need to sell or shut down its motorsport division as part of a self-administration process.
Despite this, the firm remains publicly optimistic about its future in MotoGP, with hopes of remaining on the grid until 2025. Speaking to German publication Speedweek, Beirer hinted that seven-time F1 champion Hamilton could be a potential investor.
“All I can say is that we have had very interesting discussions with his management,” he revealed. “It is no secret that is interested in MotoGP and is thinking about having his own team. There are concrete discussions here too. The current situation is making us creative and open to new discussions. So we are not only open to sponsors, as has been the case so far, but also to investors.”
Liberty Media, the owners of F1, are currently in the process of purchasing MotoGP and its feeder series for an estimated £3.5 billion.
Greg Maffei, the outgoing CEO of the American company, recently confirmed that Hamilton is among those interested in getting involved in the series.
MONTMELO, SPAIN – NOVEMBER 19: Brad Binder of South Africa and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing heads down a straight during the MotoGP Tests In Barcelona at Circuit de Catalunya on November 19, 2024 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images)
“I think MotoGP is an unbelievably exciting product – to see people riding motorcycles at 220mph, six inches from each other is wild. And the overtaking there is incredibly impressive.
“It’s an exciting product. It’s unfortunately one that is too little known in the United States, and around the world there is interest in Asia and places.
“But the real heart of it has been Spain, Italy, to some degree France. I think there’s an opportunity to expand it.
“When we announced it, we had immediately people call up and say, ‘I want to buy a team’, including people like . Why?
“Because they saw what happened in Formula 1 and they want to follow.
“We had major distributors call up and say, ‘We want to be involved’, and unfortunately I had to tell them, ‘We really can’t talk about it until we get EU approval’. We’d love to talk once we get it.”