Bottas confirmed for 2022 Race of Champions

©Mercedes

Valtteri Bottas has become the first active Formula 1 driver to confirm he will take part in the next Race of Champions event, set to be held on snow and ice in Sweden next February.

This annual competition brings together the world’s finest drivers from all the disciplines of motorsport to compete head-to-head in an assortment of vehicles, both as part of a national team and individually.

Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Felipe Massa, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo have all taken part in the past.

Read also: "I told the team I'd be on the podium!", declares Bottas

Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, former NASCAR champions Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch, IndyCar stars Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden, and WRC stars Sebastian Loeb, Petter Solberg and Sebastian Ogier have also previously joined the line-up.

This will be Bottas' first appearance at ROC and will come during the off-season period where he will be moving from his current team Mercedes to a new home at Alfa Romeo.

"I’m really looking forward to finally be able to compete in the Race Of Champions after watching the event on TV for many years," Bottas said on Monday.

"The fact that this year’s event will be held on snow and ice makes it even more interesting," he added. "I’ve competed in the Arctic Rally a few times so hopefully that experience will help.

"We aim to beat the strong competition and especially our Nordic neighbours from Sweden and Norway to add to Finland’s many wins both in the individual ROC and the ROC Nations Cup."

©RaceofChampions

ROC President Fredrik Johnsson was delighted to see the 32-year-old Finn join the line-up for the next event.

"Valtteri has told us since several years that he would like to participate in the Race Of Champions," he said. "We are very happy that he is finally able to make his ROC debut in our first ROC World Final on Snow & Ice.

"Finland has a proud history at the Race Of Champions and it will be fascinating to see how the longstanding sporting rivalry between Finland and host nation Sweden plays out.

"We always have a lot of very fast drivers at ROC, but the new parallel ice track on the frozen ocean will be a big x factor."

Kristensen, Loeb and Solberg have already been announced for the event, along with Mattias Ekström, Travis Pastrana, reigning WRC champion Johan Kristoffersson and rising rallying star Oliver Solberg with more drivers - including a partner for Bottas in Team Finland - to be confirmed.

The event was last held in Mexico in 2019 but recent competitions have been postponed because of coronavirus.

This will be the first time that the final has moved away from an asphalt track in a stadium in favour of a purpose-built course on the frozen Baltic Sea at Sweden’s Pite Havsbad.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.