F1 News

Bottas could perform well for rally team M-Sport if conditions are perfect

Bottas could perform well for rally team M-Sport if conditions are perfect

26-12-2018 15:46
1

World Rally Championship team M-Sport says Valtteri Bottas could perform well on his rallying debut, providing the conditions are right at next month's Arctic Lapland Rally.

M-Sport's deputy team principal Rich Millener said Bottas has the chance to impress if perfect winter conditions prevail in the Arctic Circle.

"Consistent conditions would really help," said Millener to Autosport. 

"Ideally there will be a lot of snow, big snowbanks and lots of good, hard ice on the road.

"If he gets those conditions, he'll find the grip's at a really high level and he'll learn quickly.

"If it's a bit warmer and he starts to lose some studs from the tyres because there's gravel coming through the ice, then it could be tough."

"He's a very, very capable driver - we can see that from what he does in a Formula 1 car and some of those skills will transfer over.

"He's not going to be afraid of the speed and he doesn't need to learn how to drive a car."

Bottas will follow in the Finnish footsteps of F1 drivers including Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen in tackling the Arctic Lapland Rally on the 24 -26th of January.