Max Verstappen wants to own a MotoGP team

From four wheels to two? The four-time world champion Max Verstappen, winner of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this Sunday, would be interested in becoming the owner of a racing team MotoGP in the future.

According to information from the English media The Race, confirmed by Sky Italia in the Italian press, "sources close to the reigning world champion of F1 confirmed that he was open to the possibility of becoming a MotoGP team owner.

The Dutchman is said to have inquired with Honda and Aprilia about acquiring their full stakes in their respective satellite teams: LCR and Trackhouse. Given that the two teams do not seem ready to part ways with their parent company, a possible arrival of Max Verstappen (as an owner) in MotoGP would rather take place through a new team on the grid.

"It's no secret that he's interested in MotoGP, but taking over a team isn't realistic at the moment. Everything has to be perfect.", admitted Raymond Vermeulen, Max Verstappen's manager, to the Dutch daily De Telegraaf, after his driver took pole position for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

F1 and MotoGP: a growing relationship

The two premier motorsport categories, on both four and two wheels, have been growing closer and closer recently. While the championships were considering organizing joint rounds on the same circuit a year ago, Liberty Media, the company that holds the commercial rights to Formula 1, finalized the acquisition of Dorna, its MotoGP equivalent, on July 7.

Former Team Principal of the Formula 1 team Haas, Italian Günther Steiner announced, on the sidelines of Álex Márquez's victory at the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix this weekend, that he would take over the Tech 3 team with the help of a consortium of investors. The former engineer reportedly offered nearly $23,5 million (€20 million) to acquire the team, but he is not the first former F1 driver to show an interest in two wheels.

Indeed, besides the fact thatAlpine became the title sponsor of the Prima Pramac team this season, another major player in Formula 1 wanted to set foot in MotoGP. In 2024, according to Sky Italia, Lewis Hamilton has reportedly made inquiries about investing around ten million dollars in Ducati's satellite team, Gresini Racing, winner this Sunday with Alex Márquez on the Barcelona circuit.

Max Verstappen, already owner of Verstappen.com Racing, entered in GT World Challenge Europe and main supporter of the Esport Team Redline team, of his father Jos's career in Rally and that of Thierry Vermeulen, the son of his manager, in various competitions in GT and in DTM, would be just one more name on the list of F1 personalities and entities interested in MotoGP.

As a reminder, since Liberty Media's arrival, F1 has almost doubled its valuation in the space of four years. MotoGP could experience the same expansion in the coming years, with the twilight of its new regulations in 2027 and the arrival of Pirelli, coincidentally or not the Formula 1 tire manufacturer, to replace Michelin.

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