Formula 1 drivers intrigued by Rovanpera switch away from rally

25-year-old Finnish driver Rovanpera announced this month that he will switch to circuit racing next year, starting with the Japanese Super Formula. Depending on how the Toyota-backed driver goes, Formula Two and ultimately Formula One and the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race could be in his sights.

Racers have gone from two wheels to four, the late John Surtees winning world titles in both, but making a successful transition from rallying to F1 would be breaking new ground. Fernando Alonso, a double F1 world champion who has competed in the Dakar Rally and won Le Mans with Toyota and races in F1 with Aston Martin, was keen to see how Rovanpera went.

Alonso told reporters, "Definitely, he will face some challenges. Rally was always playing with the two feet, brake and throttle for the whole time in a stage. And then the limits of the car and the limits of what you can do is shockingly different."

Esteban Ocon, whose Haas F1 team has a technical partnership with Toyota, said he understood why Rovanpera would want the challenge: "I think, first of all, it's awesome."

"It's going to be a story that I really follow closely, and I've been following him already when he was doing some Porsche Cup races. If I was him, winning already two titles in WRC and being so young and having Toyota in support, definitely you want to try something else," added Ocon.

Rovanpera has won three rallies this year and is second overall in the standings with two rounds remaining, 13 behind teammate Elfyn Evans and level with eight times champion Sebastien Ogier.

Circuit racing is, however, a completely different sport for someone used to throwing cars around muddy corners, over blind crests and through fog-shrouded forests and around mountains -- sometimes with snowbanks or sheer drops off the side of the road.

Rally drivers also have a co-driver alongside to help, whereas Rovanpera would be going it alone with the emphasis on setting up the car rather than memorising stages.

Ocon pointed out that the Japan-based Super Formula was a tough series, with battle-hardened local drivers and engineers who spoke little English.

Red Bull's four-times Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen, whose ex-F1 driver father Jos has switched to rallying for his own amusement, agreed Rovanpera would not find it easy.

"To go straight into a Super Formula car is a big jump," Verstappen told Reuters. "But again, if you are fully committed, you believe in yourself and you work hard for it, then who knows? I'm very interested to see how it's going to turn out because it's great, it's not really been done before like that.

"At the end of the day, he won two championships already. So his dream is probably achieved anyway. And now this is a different challenge, and maybe he already wanted that when he was younger as well."

Verstappen ruled out ever going the other way himself, even if his father was completely converted to his own change of scene: "I've sat next to him (Jos). It's pretty insane to sit next to someone being so committed. Personally, I don't think rallying is for me."