Valtteri Bottas trades in his F1 car for a rally car at the snowy Arctic Lapland Rally.
Bottas takes time off day job to rally in the snow
SHOWS: ROVANIEMI, FINLAND (JANUARY 17 AND 18, 2020) (AKK SPORTS - EDITORIAL USE ONLY) 1.
FINNISH RACING DRIVER, VALTTERI BOTTAS SIGNING, AUTOGRAPH AHEAD OF RACE 2.
BOTTAS (77) STARTING RALLY 3.
BOTTAS ON THE COURSE 4.
BOTTAS STARTING STAGE IN HALF-LIGHT 5.
BOTTAS ON THE COURSE 6.
SOUNDBITE (English) RACING DRIVER VALTTERI BOTTAS SAYING: "At times I had to be quite cautious and I knew I was losing time in places.
And yes, I really struggled with the visibility as well today.
I couldn't use any of the headlights, only the small ones and when you go 200 plus on the straights you're just waiting where the corner is, so challenging, but good good, good fun and I learned a lot for sure." 7.
VARIOUS OF FINNISH RACING DRIVER, KALLE ROVANPERA (1), ON COURSE 8.
ROVANPERA FINISHING RACE STORY: Valtteri Bottas swapped Formula One for the challenges of snowy Finland over the weekend, taking part in the 55th Arctic Lapland Rally.
The Mercedes F1 driver eventually finished ninth, nearly 10 minutes behind eventual winner Kalle Rovanpera after a difficult first day.
This year 135 cars competed in the rally where modified or specially built road-legal cars drive on snow-covered public and private roads.
The race is from point-to-point and the total length is 201 kilometres, divided into ten special stages.
Apart from keeping an eye on the road, the teams also have to look out for reindeer.