Hamilton & Rosberg Drive Karts At Lonato

press release

F1 drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who used to race together for CRG and Dino Chiesa’s team a few years ago, went back on a kart last Friday, both to get some fun and for a small training session for next F1 season.

Above: Lewis Hamilton aboard his LH Kart, made by CRG

The two drivers met on the ‘South Garda Karting Circuit’, welcomed by their former team manager Dino Chiesa, for a full immersion day in karting. Both Hamilton and Rosberg, before their début in car-racing, used to race together for the MBM team (acronym of Mercedes Benz McLaren) in 2000 and 2001, with CRG chassis; in those years they even took part in the Italian Championship Open Masters. With Dino Chiesa and CRG, Hamilton became Formula A European Champion in 2000, with Rosberg crossing the line for second.

Hamilton, who turned 25 few days ago and is about to race for McLaren for the 4th season, could test the ‘LH’ chassis, recently developed by CRG thanks to 2008 F1 World Champion’s advice and technical specs.

Above: Former karting team mates Hamilton & Rosberg

Rosberg, who is racing for Mercedes this year, raced on a ‘Zanardi’ chassis; he already had the occasion to appreciate it last November, on the very same circuit of Lonato together with Michael Schumacher and the young Dutch star Nyck De Vries.

De Vries, who was together with the two F1 drivers on this occasion too, has recently been included in the McLaren young driver development programme. Also Lewis Hamilton’s brother, Nicholas, got on a kart: he had lot of fun testing a CRG-Rotax Max.

Lewis Hamilton concentrated on the driving of his ‘LH’, both in the KF and KZ version – with gears and Maxter engine. “I really had lot of fun" said Hamilton after racing for almost a whole day. "Above all, I enjoyed the kart with gears, which I had never tried before. I’ve always raced on a 100cc without gears, and it’s been hard for me to adjust to the driving style the KZ requires. I need to get the knack of it, but I’ve already seen that it’s total fun. I obviously felt at ease with the KF, quite similar to my old 100cc. Anyway, it was wonderful to meet again with my old team, my brother and all my Italian friends.”

Above: F1 drivers with their old MBM team boss, Dino Chiesa

Dino Chiesa was very satisfied too: “Meeting again on a track after almost ten years was a great experience. First of all, both Hamilton and Rosberg wanted to have fun, without trying to get first rate performances, even though they raced at full throttle. Nicholas Hamilton had lots of fun too: he didn’t want to get down of the kart. I think he completed almost 200 laps… I hope to repeat this experience in a few months.”

Above: Nicholas Hamilton leads his famous brother

Above: F1 stars with McLaren's new signing Nyck de Vries, CRG's Giancarlo
Tinini and Nicholas Hamilton

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