Red Bull or Toyota? All about Rallying Superstar Kalle Rovanpera's path to Formula 1

Two-time World Rally Championship (WRC) champion Kalle Rovanpera announced his exit from the rally championship at the end of the season and will make his way to single-seater open-wheel racing cars. The Red Bull star raced with Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the WRC and will continue the partnership into his 2026 endeavor. Let's have a look at his path to F1 with both Toyota and Red Bull playing crucial roles.

Kalle Rovanpera is the son of former WRC racer Harri Rovanpera, and made his debut in the series at the age of 17 in 2017. The Finnish driver raced with Skoda from 2018-2019 before joining Toyota ahead of the 2020 season. After winning a couple of races in 2021, Rovanpera went on to win the 2022 WRC title with six wins throughout the season.

The Finnish Rally star would go on to make it a double the very next year as he won the 2023 WRC title with three wins throughout the season, and his worst finish was P4. Kalle Rovanpera currently sits in P3 in the WRC standings with three races to go. He's only 21 points behind the leader and is in with a shot at the title.

However, Rovanpera made the decision to leave the series he's settled into, has a guaranteed seat in, and decided to race in the Japanese open-wheel racing series Super Formula starting in 2026.

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Kalle Rovanpera opens up on the move to Super Formula

The Super Formula series slots somewhere between F1 and F2 when compared on the performance index of the cars. It is a tough series with many F1 drivers and prospects, including Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa, racing in it.

Kalle Rovanpera hasn't had any serious professional single-seater racing experience as of yet, and is driving straight into the deep end with the series. However, the Finnish driver has raced a few times around a circuit and was pretty handy. With Toyota presenting the opportunity, the Finnish driver grabbed it with both his hands to achieve things in series apart from WRC.

Detailing his reason behind the move, Kalle Rovanpera said,

“This decision has not been an easy one, but it’s one that I have been thinking about for a while. Having already achieved so much in rallying at this age, I started to think about what other possibilities I might have and what other challenges I would like to take on. It has been a tough decision, but it feels like the right one to pursue my next dreams and challenges.” (via Toyota Gazoo Racing’s official website) “It’s special to have the support of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing from the start of this new challenge and to be able to race in Super Formula. I know that it’s jumping straight into the deep end, coming from rallying, but I’m really looking forward to it, and together with TGR, we have a good plan to prepare in the best way possible and to try and make the most of it,” added Rovanpera

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Red Bull or Toyota? Kalle Rovanpera’s path to F1

While Kalle Rovanpera hasn't made it clear that his end goal is to race in F1, starting in Super Formula and aiming for single-seater excellence more likely than not refers to F1 being the end goal of the move away from WRC.

The Finnish driver can race in the Super Formula for a couple of years and get used to the world of open-wheel racing, as well as how different such a car operates when compared to the Rally cars with the loose rear end, which slides into the corners.

After that, much like Colton Herta, Rovanpera would likely make a move to Formula 2, just to get used to the circuits that F1 races on, as well as get the know-how of the Pirelli tires and how a team operates. This will also be a crucial point as Kalle Rovanpera is likely to sign as a reserve driver for either Toyota (Haas) or Red Bull during this period.

Now the key question is who and why should an F1 team sign a WRC champion while they have their own feeder system from the Formula ladder. If Rovanpera can back his move away from WRC with performance in Super Formula, Red Bull will likely put him in the system, which includes the sister team VCARB, to see the Finnish driver's suitability.

Toyota, on the other hand, has backed Kalle Rovanpera and signed a technical partnership with the Haas F1 team. If Toyota increases its share in Haas, or somehow signs a deal with more control, it can likely influence the driver's decision. The same was discussed on this weekend’s episode of The Race podcast.

“Rovanpera's links to Red Bull and Toyota are things that can just have such a tangible way in to Formula 1. It's very clear. You can see a very clear path. It's a concrete affiliation. Red Bull as a brand would love that kind of association,” detailed the host “Even though this would come from another discipline. They've got the two F1 teams, they've got the junior team, they've got the junior program. It's perfect. If it works, that comes together so beautifully. It's unlikely, but it's perfect. But the other one is obviously Toyota, which has the technical partnership with Haas.” “The rumors that they could potentially expand that in the future will never go away. And actually both sides, when I've spoken to people, that they're open to it, they're not ruling it out.”

Kalle Rovanpera might be a star in the making, but the Finnish star has taken a huge gamble, and only time will tell if it paid off.

Edited by Pranay Bhagi