Red Bull star's F1 plans take shape after joining new team

Red Bull athlete Rovanpera in WRC — Photo: © IMAGO

Racing News

Red Bull star's F1 plans take shape after joining new team

Kalle Rovanpera has left WRC to focus on single seaters

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 14 December 2025 10:59

Two-time World Rally (WRC) champion Kalle Rovanpera has revealed the next step on his journey to hopefully one day become an F1 star.

Rovanpera is a Red Bull-sponsored athlete, and won back-to-back championships in the WRC in 2022 and 2023.

However, as the 2025 WRC season came to a close, Rovanpera announced that he would be switching to single-seater racing, with the Finnish racer still young enough to try and learn new skills elsewhere.

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In his announcement back in October, 25-year-old Rovanpera said: "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."

Now, the Finn has revealed the first stop on his single-seater racing adventure, taking part in the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.

Rovanpera's first race destination revealed

In a statement to his fans on Instagram, Rovanpera revealed: "New chapter starts here! I will be starting my single-seater journey in January with Hitech Grand Prix in the New Zealand's Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.

"The 2026 championship will race over four consecutive weekends with two rounds in New Zealand’s North Island and two in the South Island.

"The upcoming years will be the biggest challenge I have faced so far," Rovanpera continued. "I will be stepping into the unknown and very far from my comfort zone which has been rallying for so long.

"But that's also one of the reasons why I wanted to make this change. I want to learn new things, push my limits and I'm ready to give my all for this project!"

Rovanpera will continue to be supported by Toyota throughout his switch to single-seaters next year, with the rally champion staying within the Toyota Gazoo Racing family to compete in the Japanese Super Formula Championship in 2026.

He has chosen to make the career change much later than many F1 hopefuls, with current stars of the grid Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson having competed in the Super Formula championship when they were 20 and 21 years of age respectively.

Rovanpera has been seen on the track at Suzuka in the post-season Super Formula test this week, taking place over three days.

Following his (so far) two different championships in 2026, Rovanpera is preparing himself for a 2027 F2 seat, but will need to prove himself in the Japanese series first before that is fully confirmed.

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