Toto Wolff: Lewis Hamilton tested Superbike "secretly", lost contact for two days

Lewis Hamilton “secretly” took part in a Superbike test - during which he crashed, Toto Wolff recalled.

Seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton scared his F1 boss with two days of radio silence in 2018 when he linked up with the Crescent Racing squad at Jerez.

His love of motorcycle racing is well known. As well as having his own signature MV Agusta model, Hamilton took part in a ride swap with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi in 2019, while in the last 12 months he has been linked to investing in two MotoGP teams.

Six years ago, just after he’d won his fifth F1 crown, Hamilton took part in a two-day test at Jerez on a YZF-R1 Superbike overseen by the Crescent Racing World Superbike Championship squad.

Michael van der Mark, then a Yamaha WSBK rider, told motorsport.com at the time that Hamilton had to be told to slow down because “he was not afraid at all”.

Wolff revealed that he couldn’t get a hold of Hamilton - who’d done the test secretly - for two days and wasn’t aware that he’d crashed.

Asked if he was there for the ride swap in 2019 in Valencia with Rossi and Hamilton, Wolff told the Armchair Expert podcast: “No, but I had to give permission. So, I gave it and I think they both enjoyed it a lot.

“Lewis is the annoying kid in school who does everything right and fast.

“I’ll tell you a story about biking. Secretly - they didn’t tell me - they went testing in Jerez and one of my heads of strategy was a motorbike guy, one of the engineers, and I couldn’t get hold of him for two days.

“And then calling Lewis, his engineer picked up and said ‘it’s all good, all is fine, we’ve just finished biking and just whatever you hear he’s fine’.

“I said ‘what happened?’ He fell. But he was four seconds off the MotoGP pros only.

“Unbelievable. The body feeling he has is what makes him a champion.”

Hamilton was unhurt from his crash.

Wolff’s comment is hard to verify as there was no official timing released, though has to be taken with a pinch of salt as van der Mark said at the time: “I know he can be much faster, but it’s difficult to predict what he could do on a bike.

“He has only ridden four days now and he was about seven seconds slower than us [the Yamaha WSBK riders]. With that, he’s faster than most other track day riders.”

Earlier in 2018, Hamilton rode a Superbike in a Monster Energy event with three-time MotoGP race winner Cal Crutchlow in California.

In recent weeks, KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer revealed in an interview with Speedweek that the struggling Austrian firm had held “concrete” discussions with Hamilton’s management about potential investment.

Hamilton moves to Ferrari in F1 for the 2025 season.