Valtteri Bottas will make his Race of Champions debut early in 2022 in Sweden’s Snow & Ice event, representing his home nation Finland.
Having taken part in the Arctic Lapland Rally in the last few years, Mercedes F1 driver Bottas will make his Race of Champions debut in the 2022’s Snow & Ice event to be held in Sweden, representing Finland in the ROC Nations Cup.
By 2022, Bottas will become a Alfa Romeo driver, having signed with the Swiss-Italian F1 outfit. The Finn joins the likes of Tom Kristensen, Johan Kristoffersson, Sebastien Loeb, Mattias Ekstrom, Travis Pastrana, Petter Solberg and Oliver Solberg.
He is the first F1 driver to be confirmed for the 2022 event, which will focus on sustainability and have electric cars. “I’m really looking forward to finally be able to compete in the Race Of Champions after watching the event on TV for many years,” said Bottas.
“The fact that this year’s event will be held on snow and ice makes it even more interesting. I’ve competed in the Arctic Rally a few times so hopefully that experience will help as we aim to beat the strong competition and especially our Nordic neighbours from Sweden and Norway to add to Finland’s many wins both in the individual ROC and the ROC Nations Cup,” summed up Bottas.
At the same time, ROC head Fredrik Johnsson added: “Valtteri has told us since several years that he would like to participate in the Race Of Champions and we are very happy that he is finally able to make his ROC debut in our first ROC World Final on Snow & Ice.
“In the latest Formula 1 race in Monza, Valtteri once again proved that he is one of the world’s fastest drivers. Finland has a proud history at the Race Of Champions and it will be fascinating to see how the longstanding sporting rivalry between Finland and host nation Sweden plays out. We always have a lot of very fast drivers at ROC, but the new parallel ice track on the frozen ocean will be a big x factor.”
Schedule for the 2022 event:
- Saturday 5th of February 2022, 12:00 – 15:00 CET: ROC Nations Cup (to Crown the World’s Fastest Nation)
- Sunday 6th February 2022, 12:00 – 15:00 CET: Race Of Champions (to Crown the “Champion of Champions”)
Here’s more on ROC Sweden
Here’s Frederic Vasseur on why Valtteri Bottas