Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said he’d like to give Valentino Rossi and Sebastien Ogier the chance to drive a modern F1 car.
Triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo recently had a test session at Silverstone in a 2014 car and Wolff would like to see more racers from other disciplines in Formula 1 cars.
Speaking to Italian publication Gazetto dello Sport, Toto said “F1 also is about entertainment, and I would love to test the ability of Valentino Rossi and Sebastien Ogier behind the wheel of our machines. Yes, my idea is to organise a day with them.”
Four-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier has dabbled in circuit racing on occasion, but in nothing that comes close to the performance of an F1 car.
Motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi does have F1 experience, however. He completed a number of tests for Ferrari in the mid-2000s and was strongly rumoured to be considering making a full-time switch from MotoGP to F1. In the end he stuck to two wheels however, and added another couple of championships to his tally.
Although Rossi testing an F1 car again probably wouldn’t lead to another batch of rumours he’s definitely keen to do it. When asked about it by Sky Italia, he said “If he wants to call me, he has my number. How could I say no?”