Lewis Hamilton’s newest motorcycle takes him to the sticks

Lewis Hamilton has taken to the dirt during the F1 off-season, riding a 250cc enduro bike in the hills.

Hamilton famously said at the end of the 2025 F1 season in Abu Dhabi last December that he would not be going on his phone over the winter and generally trying to disconnect. Well, there are few better ways to get away from it all than by going for a ride, better yet for a ride through the countryside.

Since joining Ferrari, Hamilton has spent much of his motorcycling time with Ducatis, but despite the arrival of the Desmo450 MX in 2025 Hamilton has gone elsewhere for his off-roading desires.

Indeed, his bike of choice on this occasion is a 2024 KTM XC-F 250, the perfect tool for a mid-winter hillside adventure. 

Certainly not the perfect tool for a Monte-Carlo cruise, though – you’d probably get arrested by Fernando Alonso in his magnificent CLK GTR if you turned up there on something as revoltingly agricultural as a dirtbike. 

The British driver’s previous motorcycling adventures have included track days with WorldSBK riders and even a bike-car swap with Valentino Rossi at Valencia that saw him ride a Yamaha MotoGP bike.

Perhaps this lane of Hamilton’s two-wheel enjoyment will see him link up with KTM’s enduro ace Josep Garcia, its teenage MXGP star Lucas Coenen, or even its new major arrival in the US, Eli Tomac. 

After he’s finished playing around with motorbikes and cattle, Hamilton faces one of the most important seasons of his F1 career. After underperforming in an underwhelming SF-25 last year, Scuderia Ferrari’s superstar has to justify his position in the first year of what will be the first season of the fifth regulation set the seven-time champion has raced in. The F1 season commences in Melbourne on 6–8 March.