Hamilton: I had a little moment but brought it back in one piece

Amid an information blackout in the 24 hours after the Mercedes and Yamaha swap, Corriere dello Sport reported a rumour that Hamilton had crashed with "no consequences" for the world champion.

But many media outlets described that report as "fake news", especially when the World Champion wrote to his fans on social media that there had been "no problems".

However, Hamilton then told Sky Italia: "The bike is so hard to ride. I had a little moment with it but otherwise brought it back in one piece. I was just step-by-step learning, but it's a very steep learning curve," he added.

40-year-old Rossi, who drove the halo-less 2017 Mercedes W08, said of Hamilton's adventure, “I also rode the YZR-M1 on track with Lewis. It was a proud moment for the team to share our passion with him.

"Technically, Valencia is a hard track, and it was windy, so at one point I thought it could be difficult for Lewis, but he was brilliant on the bike and his position on the M1 was great.

"I really enjoyed sharing this experience with him, and I think he had loads of fun too, demonstrated by how reluctant he was to stop riding! I sincerely hope we will get to have many more experiences like this in the future," added the MotoGP legend.

Hamilton enthused, "It's a rocket. When you accelerate it's incredible. The braking is not the same as a Formula 1 car but there are so many other things to think about - the body position, the gears, the head position.

"You have to master so many things at once. I'll be flying high all next week after this. I think it's my last week of work, and then I'll enjoy the holidays," he added.