Valtteri Bottas set for belated Race of Champions debut in 2023
Alfa Romeo Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas will make his Race of Champions debut in 2023 after being a late dropout for last year’s event.
The 10-time Formula 1 race winner, who missed the 2022 event due to a late commitments clash, will team up with two-time F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen to form Team Finland in the ROC Nations Cup, while also competing in the individual contest at Sweden’s Pite Havsbad on the 28-29 January next year.
The Finnish duo join the already announced line-up which includes Sebastian Vettel, Johan Kristoffersson, Jamie Chadwick plus Petter and Oliver Solberg.
“I’m really looking forward to being able to make my Race Of Champions debut at last! I’ve watched the event on TV for many years and I came so close to competing last year until I had to pull out at the last minute,” Bottas said.
“It was tough watching everyone having so much fun throwing their cars around on the snow and ice in Sweden, so I’m glad I will now be joining them at Pite Havsbad in January.
“I’m also thrilled to be able to partner Mika Hakkinen for Team Finland in the ROC Nations Cup. I have become good friends with Mika over the years, but it will be a special treat to be able to race alongside him.
“We’ve both taken part in the Arctic Rally a few times so hopefully that can help us beat our Nordic neighbours – and everyone else. Then we’ll have to put our friendship aside again and try to beat each other in the individual Race Of Champions. Whatever happens I’m sure we will put on a great show for all the fans watching at the track and around the world.”
The Race of Champions made its move to snow and ice in Sweden earlier this year, having previously competed across the globe in city locations including Paris, London and Mexico City.
Following the success of the 2022 event it will remain at the Pite Havsbad venue for 2023, racing on the frozen Baltic Sea.
The full driver line-up for the 2023 Race of Champions will be announced over the coming weeks during the build-up to the event.
Related video
Le Mans Virtual Series heads to classic Spa-Francorchamps for Round 3
Motorsport.tv guide: What's on 5-6 November weekend?
Why Monte Carlo success could spark another past master’s WRC revival
Some 39 years on from his Monte Carlo Rally debut, World Rally Championship legend Francois Delecour continues to pick up silverware. Proving that age is purely a number, the 60-year-old's desire to compete against the WRC’s latest young talents could be the start of a new chapter in the Frenchman’s storied career
Amid ChatGPT buzz, is AI ready to take over Formula 1 strategy?
The viral success of ChatGPT since its launch has lifted interest surrounding Artificial Intelligence to new heights.
Team 18's coin toss chassis allocation
Supercars squad Team 18 used a combination of a coin toss and a ping pong ball lottery to allocate its new chassis to drivers Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom.
BRT not fazed by Ford aero questions
Blanchard Racing Team isn't fazed about the unresolved Ford aero package ahead of its maiden Gen3 Supercars test at Winton tomorrow.
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
Nyck de Vries’s Italian GP exploits weren’t the first post-eleventh-hour call-up in motorsport history, and won’t be the last either. Here are some offbeat tales from the past
Why romanticism isn't the key factor in Lola’s racing return
The iconic Lola name is being relaunched after it was taken over by new ownership. Part of that reboot is a planned return to racing, though the exact details of this are still to be finalised - though its new owner does have a desire to bring the brand back to the Le Mans 24 Hours. But romanticism doesn't appear to be the driving force behind this renewed project...
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Motorsport.com has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates.
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
Why Todt’s FIA successor could be cut from the same cloth
Jean Todt has signalled that he will not stand for re-election as FIA president. Mark Gallagher analyses the strong credentials of one potential successor…
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be.
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.