KUALA LUMPUR: Waiting up to seven hours was “no sweat” for fans who stood in line to meet motorsports heroes Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

The racing stars were in Suria KLCC yesterday and hundreds of fans mobbed them to get autographs and selfies.

Among them was 37-year-old Mohd Hariz who has been coming every year over the last 12 for these meet-and-greet sessions.

“It’s exciting to see so many people gathered here. Previously when smaller teams like Red Bull did meet-and-greet sessions, only a handful of people waited in line.

“Since BMW and Hamilton started coming, the crowd has expanded,” he said, showing that the mass of people covered the entire centrecourt area.

Hariz, a businessman, said he had taken the day off and had met the racers at about 6pm after waiting since 1pm.

Brothers K. Premesh, 12, and Ramesh, 13, confessed to having skipped school to meet Hamilton.

“We were super excited. Hamilton is our hero and today he said my name!

“It’s a dream come true,” said an elated Ramesh.

Premesh said their mother was not pleased at first with the idea of them not attending school.

“But this was an opportunity of a lifetime so we begged her and here we are,’’ he said, adding that he hoped to meet more racers during the weekend.

F1 kickstarts the motorsports month of October and takes place from Friday to Oct 2 at the Sepang International Circuit.

It will be followed by the Moto GP, from Oct 28 to 30.-thestar