MV Agusta and Lewis Hamilton team up again for the F4 LH44

The Anglo-Italian romance rekindled this year, Hamilton taking time during this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix to unveil the even-more-limited-edition MV Agusta F4 LH44. The connection between the race driver and the racy bike maker isn't capricious: Daimler owns the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team Hamilton drives for, and also owns a 25-percent stake in MV Agusta.

Hamilton and MV Agusta's creative team started with a 212-horsepower F4 RC, the Reparto Corsa race kit adding seven horsepower over the standard F4 while shedding eight pounds. The engineering department bolted on an SC Project exhaust that swaps the trademark four pipes for a single under-seat unit inspired by MV Agusta's World Superbike contender. A mechanically adjustable Öhlins suspension in black instead of the customary Öhlins gold graces front and rear: USD NIX 30 TiN-coated forks ahead, a TTX 36 shock astern.

Hamilton dressed the package in glossy candy apple red, with a pearl white chassis and matte black accents featuring his panther logo. Detail work includes the racing-style fuel tank cap, an anodized, CNC-machined wheel nut, and exclusive Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tires with red-striped sidewalls imprinted with a red LH44 logo. MV Agusta notes the smoked windscreen is a first on one of its production bikes. Just 44 of these are up for grabs, and at least one's already been sold well above the rumored retail price of around 50,000 euros.