Hamilton confirms spill in Rossi ride swap

Lewis Hamilton confirmed he had a minor spill in his historic ride swap with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.

Seven-time premier class champion Rossi tested one of Mercedes' title-winning F1 cars, while Hamilton had a go on a Yamaha bike – his first outing on MotoGP machinery.

According to Sky Sports, Rossi spun the Silver Arrow three times, while it had been reported earlier this week that Hamilton had crashed the Yamaha.

The reigning F1 champion earned praise from Yamaha's motorsports boss Lin Jarvis, but did confirm that he did not manage to keep the bike upright the entire time.

"The bike is so hard to ride," Hamilton told Sky Sports. "Obviously I had that one little spin with it but otherwise brought it back in one piece.

"I'm step by step learning but it's a very, very steep learning curve.

"Honestly, this has been the best year. I think this has just topped it off. I wasn't expecting to get to December and have this kind of high.

"I'm looking forward to seeing family and spending Christmas with everyone."

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