MotoGP Legend Valentino Rossi Reveals His Mother’s Pressure to Join Ferrari F1

Fans are well-aware of MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi’s love for four wheels. He recently announced that he will compete in a full season of the GT Challenge Europe series for 2022, racing with Team WRT. The nine-time world champ decided to bid adieu to motorcycle racing after a legendary career spanning over 20 years.

While dominating MotoGP back in the 2000s, he got an opportunity to race in F1 with the Ferrari team. In a recent talk show with American journalist and entrepreneur Graham Bensinger, Rossi revealed he tested the Ferrari F1 car in 2006. Rossi described it as a “very good moment” of his life.

F1 CEO and former team principal of Scuderia Ferrari Stefano Domenicali called him back in the day to offer him a taste of an F1 car. Rossi had a childhood dream of being in F1 and he got pretty close to it. He did a test in Valencia, Spain in 2006 with Ferrari, and Rossi, who is synonymous with speed, was expectedly quick.

The Italian racer was at the crossroads but ultimately decided his heart was in MotoGP. “The Doctor” had an amazing experience staying in Enzo Ferrari’s office during his field trip with the team.

Valentino Rossi is chasing his car racing dream

Rossi remembers that his decision to continue with motorcycle racing invited a lot of backlash from his friends and family. He says that the plan with F1 was not straight and there were a lot of question marks. He recalled that many including his mother were putting pressure on him to go with Ferrari.

“For F1, I had a plan, but it was not straight with the Ferrari. It was to start with a smaller team, try to have some experience, and if I’m fast enough, then (I will) arrive at the Ferrari,” said Rossi about the incident.

“But there were a lot of question marks. I felt good with the car, I was not so bad. But I wanted to continue to race with MotoGP. It was not easy, I had a lot of pressure from my side to go with the Ferrari because it was something big, including my mother, for example,” he added.

Now, he is pursuing his dream of car racing with Team WRT in the 2022 GT Challenge Europe. Fans are excited to see the Italian legend behind the wheel and hopefully, this second innings of his career would be as good as his first one.

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