Sébastien Loeb, Malcolm Wilson and David Lapworth talk to DirtFish about Kalle Rovanperä's career change
Photography by Red Bull
Words by Luke Barry & Colin Clark
If Kalle Rovanperä’s new career in single-seater racing goes perfectly, he’ll manage what fellow World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb so nearly did and race in Formula 1.
Loeb was in the frame to race for Toro Rosso at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but was not able to gain sufficient super license points.
Rovanperä is nowhere near F1 yet – in 2026 he’ll compete in Japanese Super Formula with plans to reach Formula 2 (F1’s primary feeder series) thereafter – but Loeb, who holds the record number of wins and championship in WRC history, is ‘interested’ to follow Rovanperä’s circuit racing journey.
“We knew since last year that WRC is not maybe what he wants for the future because he retired already for half a year,” Loeb told DirtFish.
“So, yeah, we could expect that something is changing and I think now he has a new target, a big one for sure. I don’t know what to say. I think he has a lot of talent because we saw what he’s able to do [but] I think Formula is very different from the WRC.
“It’s not easy to get in the rhythm of formula [racing]. It’s another approach, another kind of preparing [for] the races. You have to fight in the middle of the other [cars]. But no-one knows at the moment. Does he have the same skills for this or not? It will be interesting to follow.”
Loeb tested both Renault and Red Bull F1 machinery, so has some idea of the challenges Rovanperä faces.
“It was not very difficult to drive,” the now Dacia W2RC driver admitted, “but the grip level in the corner on the brakes and so on is just amazing. But I think if you drive, you get used to that.
“But what I saw in my career is also that when I went to circuit racing in GT or in WTCC, or then in rallycross and so on, you have always some guys who are really good in their discipline. And I was always fighting in the front, but not always on the first step of the podium.
“So it can be difficult, but no-one knows at the moment. It’s maybe possible [that Rovanperä makes Formula 1]. I hope, but for sure I will follow what he’s doing.
“For sure it will not be easy. He will have to work, he will have to drive a lot to do some karting, to do some different things to get used to this kind of driving in the middle of the field. I think no-one knows, so we’ll see.”
Prodrive’s David Lapworth is similarly intrigued to see how Rovanperä’s switch plays out.
“I’m really interested to see what happens,” he told DirtFish. “It’s interesting, having been involved in one of the stories that people talk about where Colin [McRae] drove an F1 car back in the ‘90s and listening to F1 drivers get out of a rally car having sat next to one of these guys.
“One very, very, very, very famous Formula 1 driver once said to us, ‘I don’t think I could do that, but I think he could do what I do’.”
That ‘very, very, very, very famous Formula 1 driver’ was none other than seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
Lapworth continued: “Mr Schumacher had a ride in a rally car with one of our world champions and said that was the most impressive thing that he’d ever done. His first reaction was, ‘I’m sure he could do what I do, but I don’t think I could ever do what he does.’ So I think it will be interesting to see if that’s true.”
M-Sport managing director, and FIA deputy president for sport, Malcolm Wilson however is still stunned by Rovanperä’s move.
“To be honest, I still can’t believe the decision that he’s made. I’m really shocked,” Wilson told DirtFish.
“In one sense, it shows what Kalle’s all about in the fact if you think what he could genuinely have earned from his rally driving for the next 10, 15 years would have made him a very, very, very wealthy man. And to just basically throw all that away and do what he’s done, it’s not something that… I think if you ask the other top WRC drivers, it’s not something they would do. And it’s certainly something that I definitely wouldn’t have done [when I was competing].
“But it’s a very brave decision. And I must admit, I was talking to somebody this morning: I really, really want to spend some time now with Timo Jouhki, his manager, who’s the guy who’s supporting him to get to where he is. So that is a conversation that I’m looking forward to, to be honest, because it’s something that I never ever envisaged and the earning potential that he’s basically throwing away, I find quite staggering.”
Wilson is sure, however, that the WRC’s youngest ever podium finisher, rally winner and world champion can adapt.
He said: “It’s no different to rallying – it’s about experience and it’s about racecraft. So it’s down to seat time, races, because it’s a totally different discipline. It’s a new platform for him, but I think we all know he’s got the skill set and the skill base to be able to deliver.”
Lapworth sees no reason why Rovanperä can’t make it to Formula 1, but questioned whether he will have that last 0.1% to become world champion.
Rovanperä is tipped to be a success - but will he have that decisive edge to be the best of the best?
“You have to be realistic,” he explained. “Obviously, he will be a very good racing driver – whether he will be a Verstappen or a Hamilton or a Schumacher is a completely different thing. And I think you could say the same about almost any other top level sport.
“I can’t think of a perfect example, but people who are very good at one sport tend to be much better than most of us at other sports as well. But the final 0.1% that makes a Verstappen or a Schumacher or a Hamilton or whatever, I’m not sure you can take that for granted.
“I’m sure he’ll be very good, as we can all tell stories about when we put a McRae or a Loeb or whatever into an F1 car and everybody goes, ‘wow, that’s impressive’. We put [Valentino] Rossi in a rally car, we’ve all seen what happens. We know that.
“But whether you can get to be a world champion in another discipline… what a fantastic story, good for rallying as well as for him if that was to happen.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: David Lapworth, Kalle Rovanperä, Malcolm Wilson, Sebastien Loeb, W2RC, WRC
Publish Date October 15, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/10/3PBvsafW-SI202505240420-780x520.jpg October 15, 2025
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