Monday 2 June at 17:02 : Ferrari wanted Valentino Rossi to switch from MotoGP to the famous formula one team in 2006, the seven time motorcycling world champion has confirmed.

"I thought about it. Ferrari wanted me," Rossi, the flamboyant Italian who won his third successive MotoGP race on Sunday at Mugello, is quoted as revealing to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

Rossi tested the Maranello based team's single seaters several times in that period, reportedly in view to becoming Michael Schumacher's teammate.

"It is another world but I was fast," Rossi insisted.

The 29-year-old is also quoted as elaborating to Spain's El Mundo newspaper: "There was a possibility of moving to F1.

"I don't know whether I would have done well or not, but in the end I enjoy my life and still have the passion for motorcycles," Rossi added.