Gronholm is the last Finn to win the WRC title after claiming his second world crown 20 years ago, in 2002, driving for the factory Peugeot operation.
Since then, the WRC has been largely dominated by Sebastien Loeb (2004-2012) and Sebastien Ogier (2013-2018, 2020-2021).
The French duo have won 17 titles between them with Petter Solberg (2003) and Ott Tanak (2019) the only other drivers to have won championships since Gronholm's 2002 success.
Led by new star, Rovanpera, Finland remains a hotbed for the WRC, built from a rich history that has seen the nation produce seven world champions; notably Markku Alen (1978), Ari Vatanen (1981), Hannu Mikkola (1983), Timo Salonen (1985), Juha Kankkunen (1986-1987, 1991, 1993), Tommi Makinen (1996-1999) and Gronholm (2000, 2002).
The rise of Rovanpera has not gone unnoticed by Finland's rallying royalty, with Gronholm believing that if Rovanpera continues his strong start to the season, he is favourite to win the 2022 title.
Toyota's Rovanpera holds a 46-point lead in the championship over Hyundai's Thierry Neuville after winning the last three WRC event in Sweden, Croatia and Portugal.
"He is very, very good," Gronholm told Motorsport.com when asked for his thoughts on Rovanpera's recent success.
"He is ready to win the championship I think if he continues the way he has started the season, no question. When he is under pressure he is fast and incredible, he is good.
"It must be something between the ears, of course he is a good driver," he said when asked to pinpoint why Rovanpera is enjoying such strong form.
"He has learned since he was a small kid and he has had a lot of mileage already, but mentally he is very good.
"It has been 20 years since I won and since then it has been nearly only Frenchmen who have won the title, so now it is time to take it back to Finland," he smiled.
Gronholm made a return to the WRC service park at Rally Portugal earlier this month to partake in the championship's 50th anniversary season celebrations.
It was an event that featured his long-time rival Loeb, who at 48-years-old, is still competing in selected rallies for M-Sport Ford.
Six years his senior, Gronholm retired from the WRC in 2007 and has only contested three WRC events since, with his last arriving at Rally Sweden in 2019, which was a belated 50th birthday present to himself.
Asked if Loeb's continued success could trigger a comeback the 54-year-old replied: "I'm a bit older than Sebastien but he is still competing.
"He has driven something every year since he stopped rallying full-time, whether that is circuit racing, rallycross, Dakar, so he has been driving, driving, driving. I'm not surprised he is still there.
"No, I'm not coming back."
