As one Finn leaves Formula 1 another could be knocking on
its door after Finnish sensation Kalle Rovanpera impressed during a one-off Red
Bull test at the Red Bull Ring.
The 24-year-old, who this year dovetailed his World Rally
Championship commitments for Toyota Gazoo Racing with a drive for RedAnt Racing
in the Porsche Carrera Cup, has already shown himself to be a star behind the
wheel but what could he do in an F1 car.
Kalle Rovanpera drove the Red Bull RB8
His RedAnt team manager Marc Goossens believed he know the
answer to that question when he told The Race earlier this
season: “I guarantee you, you put him in any given car – you put him in a
Formula 1 car now, he’ll be fast in it.
“That takes a different approach, it’s a completely
different package, but you have him do that, he’ll be fast.”
Rovanpera was given the opportunity to back up Goossens’
claim when he got behind the wheel of a Red Bull RB8 at the Red
Bull Ring.
Although Red Bull haven’t released any details about the
Finn’s run, Rovanpera called it a “great day” out.
Adjusting to single-seater equipment with a run in a Formula
4 car followed by a Formula Renault 3.5 machinery, he laid down the laps in Red
Bull’s championship-winning RB8.
“It was a great day, I got to drive three different formula
cars. I got quite a few laps in and, of course, the F1 was something I had been
looking forward to for a long time, so it was really cool to finally get to
drive it. The day went well, and I was left with very good feelings,” he said
as per Motorsport.com.
“The biggest differences between rally and F1 are obviously
that a rally car moves a lot more from the body – F1 is a bit like a karting
car, it doesn’t move much from its suspension, but it has an incredible amount
of grip – and of course, F1 has a huge amount of downforce, which allows you to
drive much faster in corners. It’s also physically quite different.
“There’s a lot more lateral G-force, the car stops much more and turns more – it feels very different to the driver, there are a lot more G-forces and the car has an incredible amount of grip.
