Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas has spoken about how he uses interests outside of motorsport to improve his mindset for Formula 1 race weekends and he revealed his plans for life after F1.
The 33-year-old Finn is in his eleventh season in Formula 1 this year and while he made no indication that he planned to retire in the immediate future, with a contract until the end of 2025, he was clear about his plans for after he leaves the world of F1.
Bottas has already ventured into new industries in recent years, a new gin brand “Oath Gin” being one of his latest investments and while in Melbourne, the Alfa Romeo driver explained that these passion projects help him prepare for the race weekend mentally.
“For me it’s important,” Bottas said.
“I feel that when I come to a race weekend, I’m quite refreshed. In the last couple of days I was working for my gin label and now I turn to racing and it’s cool, it’s fun. For me it works. “
Since leaving Mercedes in 2021, the Finnish driver has fully embraced the Aussie lifestyle with his Australian girlfriend and cyclist, Tiffany Cromwell. In December, Bottas unveiled his iconic mullet haircut and the Finn even described the Australian Grand Prix as “almost like a home race”.
As well as his own coffee, Bottas also has had investments in private jet companies, luxury brands and property and he is clear that these ventures will make the transition to life after racing in Formula 1 easier.
On the track, Bottas has had a rather understated start to the season. While picking up points with a P8 in Bahrain, the Alfa Romeo driver went home without gaining any points in the last two races while struggling with damage and overall race pace.
“Many times, people ask me ‘how do you have time for it?’ but there is, we have off weeks, and even if we have simulator days or sponsors days between the races, in the evenings we still have out personal time, so for me it’s important to be able to switch focus to other things.”
“I think that from a few years ago I started to invest in many different things because it is important to have other things, other passions, to do after if your career because if you drop out [of Formula 1] and you have nothing, you’ll feel quite hectic after being in such a hectic sport. So, for sure, that will be a good thing to have.
