Mercedes F1 Motorsports Strategy Directo🌌r James Vowles has praised the 'meticulous' approach taken by Valentino Rossi during his recent debut in the t𓃲eam's title-winning 2017 car.

Vowles reve🔴aled that Rossi was particularly strong in braking and corner entry, while also performing admirably on the exit of slow turns. However, the seven-time MotoG♛P champion was losing time relative to Hamilton in the faster corners.

Rossi was taking part in his first F1 test since 2010 during a unique ride-swap event with reigning Mercedes F1 champion Lewi🍰s Hamilton, 🐓at Valencia.

“Valentino's approach was very meticulous," Vowles said. "He got the fun𝔍damentals right first in terms of getting the car to where he wanted it to be on track and controlling it, and then just intuitively braking later and carrying more speed into the corner, almost like I imagine he༺ does with a MotoGP bike, and it's very impressive to watch.

"It is really the sign of a true master that he's not out of control and progressively finding performance. Throughout the day, he had areas of stre💯ngths. One of them was braking late and carrying sღpeed into the corner, he's really good at that.

"Give him another day or two in the car, and he will then be on🌼 top of the fundamentals plus the tuning of all of that. There is a lot of performance to come. In slow-speed corners, as in the exits onto the start-finish straight, there he was very good. Where he was a little bit behind Lewis - and it doesn't surprise me too much - is high ꧒speed [corners].”

While the F1 testing rules dictated that Rossi drove a two-year old car, Hamilton got 😼to sample one of the Italian's 2019 Yamahas, albeit thought to be have been fitted with softer, commercial spec Michelin superbike tyres.

No official lap timeꦰs were released, but Sky Sports F1 states that Rossi spun three times on the way to setting a best time 1.5s off Hamilton in the same Mercedes car.

Meanwhile, Hamilton is said to have had one 'little sp�🍃�in' on his way to a best time 4s slower than Rossi had been on the M1, around what is a 'longer' lap compared to the quicker F1 car. For comparison, Michael Schumacher lapped within five seconds of the then Valencia MotoGP record on an 800cc Ducati in November 2007.

“I was very impressed by Lewis’ performance because how ma💧ny champion💦s of cars could come here and get on an M1, go out there and do themselves proud?" said Yamaha Racing managing director Lin Jarvis.

"The techniques of driving the c🌠ar and riding the bike are so different but obviously the human skillset of being able to deal with racing and speed, lines and reactions and so f𒈔orth is common so it’s fantastic to watch.”