Reigning two-time world rally champion Kalle Rovanpera swapped a rally car for a Red Bull RB8 Formula 1 car in a test at the Red Bull Ring.
Suggestions the 15-time WRC rally winner could drive an F1 car emerged earlier this season while a picture posted on his Instagram of a visit to the Red Bull Racing workshop in Milton Keynes last month further fanned speculation.
To prepare for the outing, Rovanpera visited Red Bull Racing’s headquarters for a seat fitting before taking part in a session on the team’s simulator.
“We did the seat fitting for the car to check I have everything well in the cockpit for the test and then we did a morning session on the simulator trying different smaller category formula cars building up to the bigger ones. I was able to get a hang of the track and stuff,” Rovanpera told Motorsport.com prior to the event.
“I’m still a race driver so I want to show my potential and try to do well.”
Last week, Rovanpera headed to the Austrian Grand Prix venue, where he made his single-seater debut – first driving Formula 4 and Formula Renault 3.5 machinery, before stepping up to an older-generation Red Bull F1 car.
Kalle Rovanpera test in a Red Bull Formula 1 car at the Red Bull Ring
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
The Finn completed between 40 and 50 laps at the circuit where he raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series this year.
“It was a great day, I got to drive three different formula cars. I got quite a few laps in and, of course, the F1 was something I had been looking forward to for a long time, so it was really cool to finally get to drive it. The day went well, and I was left with very good feelings,” said Rovanpera.
“The biggest differences between rally and F1 are obviously that a rally car moves a lot more from the body – F1 is a bit like a karting car, it doesn’t move much from its suspension, but it has an incredible amount of grip – and of course, F1 has a huge amount of downforce, which allows you to drive much faster in corners. It’s also physically quite different.
“There’s a lot more lateral G-force, the car stops much more and turns more – it feels very different to the driver, there are a lot more G-forces and the car has an incredible amount of grip.
Kalle Rovanpera test in a Red Bull Formula 1 car at the Red Bull Ring
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
“Indeed, the first time you sit in there, it feels quite different than in a rally car – you also sit in such a different position that it feels quite different – but it was really cool to get to feel it today.”
This year Rovanpera has expanded his motorsport horizons by venturing into circuit racing having opted to contest a partial World Rally Championship campaign for Toyota, ahead of a return to full-time competition next year.
Rovanpera’s circuit racing exploits have included a part campaign in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux series, which has yielded three race wins. The Finn also contested a round of the Italian Carrera Cup series at Monza last month.
The 24-year-old is also a regular on the drifting scene, performing all over the world, and has revealed ambitions to one day compete at the Le Mans 24 Hours World Endurance Championship event.
Kalle Rovanpera test in a Red Bull Formula 1 car at the Red Bull Ring
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Rovanpera isn’t the first WRC star to pilot an F1 car, with 1995 champion Colin McRae and nine-time champion Sebastien Loeb famously enjoying outings.
McRae piloted a 1996 Jordan F1 car at Silverstone as part of a car swap stunt that saw then-Jordan driver Martin Brundle drive McRae’s WRC Subaru Impreza.
In 2007, Loeb drove a Renault F1 show car at the Paul Ricard Circuit before joining Red Bull at an F1 winter test in Barcelona 2008, where he set the eighth-fastest time driving a Red Bull RB4.
