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MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi recently shared that he was in line to potentially partner Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in the 2000s. Rossi had done a private test with the Italian team in 2004. He was a superstar on two wheels and had just won another world title.
At that time, Ferrari was at its peak as well. The Italian team had won five world titles in a row by 2004 with Michael Schumacher and was on a historic run. Valentino Rossi's test at Fiorano and the group test later at Valencia caught everyone's attention as there were rumors of the Italian rider moving to four-wheel racing.
This, however, did not materialize as Rossi continued to race in MotoGP and won two more titles with Yamaha. In a recent podcast appearance on Gianluca Gazzoli’s podcast, Rossi revealed that after his test, there was an offer on the table from Ferrari.
It entailed that he would first do a year with Minardi, and if he was able to perform, would be slotted in alongside Michael Schumacher in the senior team. He said (h/t PlanetF1):
“It was true in the sense that, in 2004 when I won with Yamaha, Stefano Domenicali called me and he said ‘I have to let you test the car. We went to Fiorano to test the car. I was pretty fast and I lapped under the minute – 59’1."
Rossi added:
“I remember that the mechanics were betting on whether I would lap above or below one minute and, in the end, I won. Then after those tests I went to Mugello. I also did a real test in Valencia.
"And there I had to choose. If I had said yes I would have raced with Minardi, the B team. And then if I had gone fast enough the goal and the path would have been to race with Ferrari.
Valentino Rossi on why he declined a move to Ferrari
Valentino Rossi explained that he declined a move to Ferrari primarily because he was still only 27 years of age and at the time, his first love was still two-wheel racing.
Considering he achieved a lot of success in MotoGP after the offer from Ferrari, the 44-year-old Italian didn't regret his decision. He added, via the aforementioned source:
"I was still 27 years old and I didn’t feel like making this leap because I knew I could win a few more titles and get satisfaction from motorcycling. For me the motorbike has always been the best. In the end I did very well, even if the curiosity remained, I don’t know what I could have done… But I won many iconic races and two [further] World Championships and I did well like that.”
Rossi continued to race in MotoGP for more than a decade after that and eventually retired in 2021 after finishing 18th that season.
