Up to now only a few exceptional talents, such as John Surtees, have managed to compete in both racing series. Maybe after that, Formula 1 will actually be a possibility. 'In the coming years he is going to break a lot more records in MotoGP. 'To put that kind of performance in within such a short time says everything about his huge talent,' Marko said. The team allowed multiple MotoGP champion Marc Marquez - along with his then-teammate Dani Pedrosa - the opportunity to spend a day testing Toro Rosso cars, and Marko did not hold back in his praise for Marquez's stint behind the wheel. However, Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko seemed to believe that there was a MotoGP rider capable of the move back in 2018. And if two of the biggest names from each sport struggled to get to grips with the other's machinery, surely this highlights that making a full-time switch would be an incredibly difficult task. So whilst Hamilton and Rossi clearly enjoyed the swap, it sounds like it wasn't easy for either to adapt. I was just step by step learning, but it's a very steep learning curve.' 'I had one little spin with it but otherwise brought it back in one piece. 'The bike is so hard to ride,' Hamilton told Sky Sports. Hamilton went on to assure his social media followers that, despite the silence, both he and Rossi 'did great' and had 'no troubles', though it was later confirmed that both had spun during the test. But speculation mounted that the switch had not gone well when no official news was shared about the event for several days afterwards. The Italian made a highly-anticipated swap with Lewis Hamilton, where each champion was able to test the other's machinery at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. Whilst Rossi's Ferrari test in 2004 seemed to go very well, the same may not necessarily be said about his try-out of a Mercedes in December 2019.

John Surtees appears to have been the only person to achieve success in both classes, yet this occured in the 1960s - so why hasn't it happened since, and will we ever witness such a feat again? It is clear that Rossi is the man to come closest to making the full-time switch from one category to the other in recent years. But the fact that his test run in the Ferrari impressed the team enough to contemplate offering him a seat suggests that perhaps he could have experienced similar success on four wheels. Rossi's decision was arguably a wise one in terms of success, with the Italian going on to build on his legendary status in MotoGP, where he still competes today at the age of 42. At one point we thought he would do a year at Sauber, but he was smart and preferred to remain number one in motorcycles than fourth or fifth in cars.' 'I saw that he was going strong, especially he lacked continuity, but he had a lot of potential and desire.

'At the beginning it was almost a courtesy to the desire of a great champion.

'Everyone knows that it was not a publicity operation, Ferrari did not need it,' di Montezemelo told. But it sounds like Rossi chose not to take up the offer due to it not being with Ferrari's main team. The Scuderia's former chairman Luca di Montezemelo has explained that a plan was discussed to bring Rossi in to the Sauber squad. The desire for such a dream move to happen was reflected by the excitement surrounding the recent revelation that Valentino Rossi - known to many as the 'GOAT' of MotoGP - apparently came very close to switching to F1 following his test for Ferrari in 2004. For fans of both Formula 1 and MotoGP, the idea of a successful competitor from one field moving into the other is a tantalising prospect.

Motogp 19 vs motogp 18