Red Bull world champion reveals testing debut in F1 bid

Red Bull athlete Rovanpera in WRC — Photo: © IMAGO

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Red Bull world champion reveals testing debut in F1 bid

Kalle Rovanpera is leaving WRC to focus on single seaters

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 31 October 2025 10:57

A two-time world champion has revealed their first test in F2 machinery, as they look to move closer to an F1 debut.

Red Bull-backed Kalle Rovanpera is a two-time champion in the World Rally Championship (WRC) having claimed back-to-back title wins in 2022 and 2023, but the Finnish racer has opted to leave the series at the conclusion of this current season.

There are just two events left in the 2025 WRC calendar, and Rovanpera could yet wrap up a third title before exiting the series.

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The 25-year-old confirmed earlier this year that he wants to move into single-seater racing with the hope of one day competing in F1, and he will take up a seat in the Japanese Super Formula Championship in 2026.

Now, during a period of downtime in the WRC schedule, Rovanpera has taken to social media to show off his first test in F2 machinery, after getting behind the wheel of a Hitech-prepared car.

In a post on Instagram, Rovanpera said: "First F2 test done! Can be quite happy with the test days. We got some valuable seat time and finally real feeling with the car!

"Next week it's time for Rally Japan!"

Rovanpera kickstarts single-seater journey

While Toyota Gazoo Racing will no doubt be gutted not to have their two-time champion continuing in rally for 2026, he will still be racing for them in Super Formula.

But Rovanpera is a Red Bull racer, and was even given his first test in an F1 car last November at the Red Bull Ring.

This latest F2 test came at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain, and it's clear that Rovanpera means business in his pursuit to have a successful single-seater career too.

Earlier this year, in a joint post to his personal social media and the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC account, Rovanpera announced his new career chapter, saying: "I'm proud of achieving my championship titles at a young age. However, winning a record number of titles has never been my goal.

"Now it's time to chase my new dreams at the highest level of circuit racing. I understand that this move is surprising, bold and very ambitious, some might event think it doesn't make sense, but I've been craving working towards this for a while now."

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