Bottas teams up with two-time world champion in Race of Champions
F1 News
- GPblog.com
On the 5th and 6th of February, a new edition of the Race of Champions will take place in Sweden. In this race, held on snowy terrain, the best drivers from different racing classes will compete against each other. Valtteri Bottas will be driving for Team Finland together with two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen.
First participation for Hakkinen
Mika Hakkinen retired from Formula 1 in 2001 and went on to drive in the DTM, among other events. Since 2008, however, he has rarely been in a race car. "I am very happy that I can race again and that I can finally participate in the Race Of Champions. It will be very different from racing in Formula 1, but I love competition and it is so spectacular to drive on snow and ice," Hakkinen said on the website of Race of Champions. "I will try to do some practice at my home in northern Finland before the event."
Hakkinen will represent Finland together with Bottas in the ROC Nations Cup. "I am good friends with Mika, so I am very happy that he is representing Finland as my teammate," said Bottas who is switching from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo in Formula 1 next season. "But after that of course we have to try to beat each other in the individual Race Of Champions. It will be entertaining for the fans no matter who wins."
Big names in Race of Champions
In addition to Bottas and Hakkinen, several other big names have already been announced: nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, reigning FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson, nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, three-time ROC WORLD FINAL winner Mattias Ekström, 2021 American Rally Association champion Travis Pastrana, FIA World Rally and Rallycross Champion Petter Solberg and rising WRC star Oliver Solberg.