Double World Rally champion Kalle Rovanpera is leaving rallying at the age of 25 and setting his sights on Formula 1, with a programme that starts in Super Formula in Japan next year.
Rovanpera’s long been dubbed ‘the WRC’s Max Verstappen’ - he was getting in rally car miles at a remarkably young age under the tutelage of his WRC rally winner father Harri, and is the WRC’s youngest ever podium finisher, rally winner and world champion.
But will that be enough given he’s a circuit racing and single-seater novice right now? And is two years in Super Formula then to Formula 2 - which he revealed as his plan in an interview with DirtFish - the right path?
Here are our snap thoughts on this shock move:
A brilliant long shot
Scott Mitchell-Malm
This is an absurd, brilliant code switch that's even better than Colton Herta's IndyCar-to-F2 move.
If F1 is really the goal, then Rovanpera is even less likely to succeed than Herta. He has a longer path and more to prove. Super Formula is immensely difficult then F2 will be another challenge entirely.
This is going to take some time, and that's assuming he adjusts quickly enough and has the ultimate potential required in this discipline. It's one thing being so adaptable and clearly as fast as he can be in circuit racing, but it's another to actually compete. Especially in single-seaters.
However...if Rovanpera converts his pace into actual performances and results, he might - might - have more concrete, long-term F1 options than Herta.
While Herta's F1 hopes live and die on whether he can force his way into Cadillac, Rovanpera has strong links with a couple of potential options.
Red Bull's F1 teams and its talent programme are an obvious fit, and what a story it would be for the brand. No doubt Helmut Marko would love the idea.
A more left-field path could be with Toyota. A key focus of its Haas technical partnership is to facilitate F1 opportunities for Toyota drivers.
In reality, that means Japanese drivers - both young and experienced ones - but Rovanpera is part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing family and if he looks like he would be a genuinely good F1 driver that could be something that either Toyota or Haas become keen to leverage.
F1's the longest of long shots from here for a mega rally talent, but it's going to be a lot of fun to see how it goes.
Fading WRC has less to offer Rovanpera
Jack Benyon
This move definitely shouldn’t be immediately written off.
Sebastien Loeb showed proper, proper talent in an F1 car but was probably too old to make the switch to single-seater racing when that move was dangled once he’d won enough in the WRC.
But the big difference in comparisons with Loeb and even Sebastien Ogier to a certain extent is the diminishing relevance of rallying. There’s less for Rovanpera to stay around for.
I grew up watching and loving rallying, but there’s no escaping it’s at a fraction of its 1990s heyday when it comes to attendance, and more importantly, relevance. It’s also suffering from a bit of an identity crisis with an unclear future road map.
So while this move would have been a much tougher choice for the Sebastiens, it’s a no brainer for Rovanpera as there’s not really anything to lose.
And back to the original question: why does the answer have to be steeped in negativity? Why do we have to wonder _where_ Rovanpera will end up? How high he gets?
Why can’t people just enjoy a really talented sportsperson doing something different and with the mindset of ‘I’m aiming for the top but just want to try it and do the best I can’?
A better path than Loeb was offered
Glenn Freeman
I love this. Even if it doesn't result in a WRC star making it to F1, to even come up with this plan in the first place is brilliant.
I also admire the fact it's being done properly and not rushed. Sebastien Loeb testing Red Bull F1 cars in 2009 was cool, and I would have loved to see him try to race one. But it would have been a big ask to go from the top of rallying straight to F1.
For Rovanpera and Toyota to have mapped out the plan that they've put in place shows they know this won't be easy.
I also wonder if we are entering a new era of drivers showing their versatility more often. We've had Max Verstappen taking on the Nordschleife, we've got IndyCar star Herta switching to F2, and now one of rallying's best is embarking on a serious, dedicated plan aimed at making it to F1.
Racing and rally drivers are so much more talented than people realise. I hope this opens the floodgates to more of them taking on more challenges outside of their initially-chosen path.
Reality might get in the way
Jon Noble
It would certainly be a fantastic fairytale if Rovanpera could break the mould and make a successful switch to F1.
However, reality often gets in the way of good stories. So despite the huge natural talent the Finn has, it is going to be a huge uphill challenge for him to deliver on that.
While Rovanpera may feel that, at 25, time is still on his side to make it into F1, the difficulty he faces is that he is already years behind hundreds of other talented youngsters who have lived and breathed karting and single-seater racing every day since they were out of nappies.
Having the ability to be quick in a car may transcend disciplines, but there is a world of difference between rallying – where drivers brilliantly dance on the edge in adapting to changeable conditions – and circuit racing which is now about going 100% all the time because track limits and safety give you a buffer zone.
I recently was chatting with the FIA’s president of the single seater commission Emanuele Pirro and he suggested that these varied approaches meant crossovers were not as straightforward as they appear from the outside.
“More and more this mindset [of pushing 100% all the time] is developing, and more and more it is difficult to pace yourself,” he said about the approach now in junior categories.
“Why, when a circuit driver goes rallying, he crashes so many times? It’s because you cannot go at 100% every time.”
Going the other way will require Rovanpera to switch mindsets and attack in a way that would never work in the WRC - and it is a transition that may take a while to get on top of.
The odds are certainly stacked against him being able to catch up with rivals who are tuned in to a different way of competition, but it would be so exciting if he could do it.
Natural talent might be enough
Josh Suttill
Don't underestimate the insane amount of natural talent Rovanpera has. The comparisons to Max Verstappen really are warranted.
Just like Verstappen, as soon as teenager Rovanpera rocked up in the premier class, you knew a world championship was a case of if not when.
And he has one key advantage versus the likes of Herta when it comes to assessing his ability to perform in F1.
Despite the obvious experience disadvantage from having not raced in single-seaters before, the fact that Rovanpera hasn't gone through the traditional F4-F3-F2 ladder means we don't know his ceiling yet.
He's not someone - like Herta or Josef Newgarden or Alex Palou - who has climbed the F1 ladder with reasonable but not world-beating success.
I'm not suggesting Rovanpera will come in and suddenly be the next Verstappen. But at the moment we don't have a ceiling on his potential - and that's really exciting.
