Race of Champions: Heikki Kovalainen returns
Heikki Kovalainen will return to the Race of Champions on March 7-8 in Sydney and will represent Team Finland alongside Valtteri Bottas.
Kovalainen's career was put on pause when the Finnish driver was diagnosed with aortic dilation in the fall of 2023, after which he underwent a complex operation in March last year, but already in the summer he started training, and in the fall he got back behind the wheel of a rally car. And now Heikki will take part in the Race of Champions in the same team with Valtteri Bottas, who can now also be considered a Formula 1 veteran. But if he continues his career as a reserve racer Mercedes, Kovalainen already ten years in Japan - first it was the national series Super GT, and now the national championship in rally. But at one time in the career of Kovalainen was very important and bright episode associated with the Race of Champions: in 2004, he became its winner, beating on the way to this success of such stars as Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Loeb.
In 2006, he teamed up with two-time World Rally Champion Markus Grönholm to win the Nations Cup representing Finland. Heikki Kovalainen: "The 2004 Race of Champions in France was a breakthrough for me on the international stage. I was young at the time, dreaming of great success in motorsport, and suddenly I found myself competing against Michael Schumacher and Sébastien Loeb, and somehow I managed to beat them both! After that I was widely recognized, which accelerated my racing career, and eventually I made it to Formula 1. Then, after my retirement from F1, I raced in Japan, became Super GT champion and two-time rally champion. Last March I had to undergo open-heart surgery, which went well and I am now fully fit again. Most importantly, 20 years after my victory in ROC-2004, I'm looking forward to the Race of Champions again!" Valtteri Bottas: "I made a list of the fastest Finnish drivers and Heikki is also on it. It's good to see him fully recovered and I'm very happy that he will be my teammate in the upcoming race in Sydney. Hopefully we'll have a good chance to compete for Finland again - for the first time in almost 20 years." Kovalainen has thus become the fifth F1 veteran to compete in the 2025 Race of Champions, joining Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, David Coulthard and Mick Schumacher.
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Race of Champions: Heikki Kovalainen returns
Heikki Kovalainen returns for the Race of Champions, which takes place March 7-8 in Sydney, and will represent Team Finland along with Valtteri Bottas...