F1 owners announce huge new takeover deal with Lewis Hamilton exit theory addressed

Happy April Fools’ Day if you ‘celebrate’ such an event. To be clear, none of these F1 news headlines involve any hijinks, before you get any ideas…

Besides, it’s past midday by the time this goes out anyway, so the joke would be on us regardless! Anyway, there’s a lot to get to, so let’s crack on.

F1 owners announce majority MotoGP takeover
Formula 1’s commercial rights holders, Liberty Media, confirmed an 86% majority takeover of motorcycle racing’s Grand Prix class, MotoGP, on Monday – for a fee that values the series at €4.2billion (£3.6bn).

Liberty Media hope to have the deal, taking over from Dorna Sports, confirmed by the end of the year, “subject to the receipt of clearances and approvals by competition and foreign investment law authorities in various jurisdictions.”

It would represent a unique moment in which both top classes in motorsport would come under the same commercial rights holders, should the deal progress as planned.

Lewis Hamilton ‘exit’ of Mercedes a saving grace from tough start?
Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley explained that Lewis Hamilton’s “objective” approach after his retirement from the Australian Grand Prix might be a sign that he is already able to prepare himself for his move to Ferrari next season, regardless of how well this year goes for him.

“Of course, if you’re Lewis Hamilton, at least you’ve got an exit out of this, you know that there is a move to Ferrari coming at the end of this year,” Priestley said on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast.