Who is the youngest ever WRC drivers' champion?

Kalle Rovanperä is the youngest ever WRC drivers' champion.

Born in Jyväskylä, Finland, in 2000, Rovanperä secured his first World Rally Championship title in 2022 at the age of 22 years and one day. He clinched the championship by winning Rally New Zealand, becoming the youngest driver to take the sport's premier crown.

His achievement was the result of an unusually early start. Rovanperä attracted attention as a child driving rally cars and competed in Latvia as a teenager, where he could legally rally before reaching the normal driving age in Finland. He later became the youngest WRC event winner when he won Rally Estonia in 2021.

Rovanperä successfully defended his title in 2023. The previous youngest champion was Colin McRae, who won the 1995 championship at 27. Tommi Mäkinen and Sébastien Loeb were also multiple champions, but neither surpassed Rovanperä's age record.