Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher issued confident battle cries ahead of the Race of Champions.
The annual event returns this weekend for the 32nd time. And, for the second year in the row, the action will take place on a treacherous course made of snow and ice, created on the frozen Baltic Sea in northern Sweden – just 60 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle.
Several familiar Formula 1 faces are among the brave souls who have travelled to Scandinavia to take part. Among them is Sebastian Vettel, who will race competitively for the first time since retiring from F1 last November.
He will be joined by Bottas – the only driver on the 2023 F1 grid taking part this year – and Schumacher, who is a Mercedes reserve after his Haas axe. Both were in mischievous moods as they arrived in Sweden this week.
They appeared along with many of their other competitors in a video released on the Race of Champions YouTube channel, in which the drivers were all asked who they think will come out on top. Naturally, many of them chose to back themselves.
That included the two F1 stars. Bottas said with a smirk: "I'm here to have fun but I'm also here to race, so I'm going to say myself." Also smiling, Schumacher replied: "I think it would be unfair to say 'not myself', so I'll say myself."
Both of them would be doing well if they follow through on those predictions. Bottas is competing in the Race of Champions for the first time, while Schumacher was knocked out in the preliminary round last year by Britain's Jamie Chadwick.
The three-time W Series champion is representing Team GB again this year, joined once more by David Coulthard. Giving her prediction, Chadwick bucked the trend by admitted she probably isn't the favourite to be crowned Champion of Champions.
"I would love to say myself!" said the Brit, before adding: "But it's probably the toughest competition. So, maybe a Swede or a Scandi [will win it]." Rally legend Sebastian Loeb is the defending champion, having knocked out Scandinavian rivals in all three rounds prior to seeing off Vettel in the 2022 final.
