Several Formula 1 drivers heaped praise on seven-times motorbike world champion Valentino Rossi ahead of his final race in the series this weekend. Valentino Rossi’s Moto GP career spanned two decades and 339 races, with an amazing 115 victories. His great Moto GP experience comes to an end this weekend, as the last race of the championship is scheduled to take place at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.
Away from the MotoGP races, Valentino Rossi was also interested and tested Ferrari Formula 1 cars on different occasions. At one stages, Scuderia Ferrari even wanted to give him the possibility of moving to Formula 1 with the goal of eventually driving for the Maranello team.
Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz described him as “a living legend of motorsports in general and Moto GP – everyone who follows Moto GP probably partly followed it thanks to Valentino Rossi. He has a bit of history with Ferrari, [testing] and making it close to racing in Formula 1. I heard that now he really likes rallying so I guess we’ll see him doing some rallies and maybe I can meet him in a rally car, I wouldn’t mind.” – Carlos Sainz said, ahead of the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix.
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McLaren driver Lando Norris, was born just three years before Valentino Rossi’s Moto GP debut, is a lifelong fan and his helmet design was originally based on Rossi’s: “It’s sad times. I’m going to miss him, I still try and watch as many Moto GP races as I can. He was the guy I watched when I was four, five, six years old, got me into racing, got me onto a motorbike first,” said Norris, who first wanted to be a motorbike racer before discovering karting. “He’s been the guy that I’ve looked up to, the guy who’s kind of helped me get to this position where I am, because probably without watching him, my ambition of being a racing driver wouldn’t have been so high.” – he concluded.
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