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F1 star Bottas is coming to RoC at Pite Havsbad this winter!

The popular Race of Champions will return to the ice at Pite Havsbad this winter as well. And the organizer can already now offer an exciting addition to the starting line: The 10-time GP winner Valtteri Bottas will, among other things, compete with his F1 colleague Sebastian Vettel on the slippery surface.

The Finnish driver, who drives for Alfa Romeo in F1, was actually supposed to make his ROC debut last winter but was forced to pull out just a few days before the race.

- I'm really looking forward to finally making my Race of Champions debut. I have followed the event on TV for many years, so now I am happy that I will have another chance to face some of the world's best drivers on ice and snow at Pite havsbad, says the 33-year-old Bottas.

In addition to the individual competition, Bottas will compete for Team Finland in the Nations Cup. There he drives together with the double F1 world champion Mika Häkkinen.

- I have become good friends with Mika over the years. We have both participated in the Arctic Rally a few times so hopefully that can help us beat our Nordic neighbors - and of course everyone else. I'm sure it will be a great show, says Bottas.

- I can assure Valtteri that the Race of Champions really is as fun as it looks and racing on snow and ice is fantastic. Since we both grew up in the only country that is possibly even colder than the winter at Pite Havsbad, we should have a chance, says Mika Häkkinen.

Also ready for the start are the four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, the five-time FIA ​​world champion in rallycross Johan Kristoffersson, the Norwegian-Swedish father-and-son rally duo Petter and Oliver Solberg and the three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick. More participants will be announced on an ongoing basis.

The Race of Champions in Piteå was such a great success that the organizer decided to give the northern bathing metropolis another chance this winter as well. The date that applies is January 28-29, 2023.

In the past, RoC has been run in some of the world's biggest arenas – including Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, Stade de France in Paris, Wembley Stadium, London's Olympic Stadium as well as a wide range of exotic locations from Bangkok, Miami, Riyadh, Barbados – and now also Piteå.

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