MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi shares shocking revelation of a potentially iconic partnership with Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in the 2000s

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.

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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.