Valtteri Bottas opens up about his plans for life after F1

Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas has said that he's quite refreshed every time he comes to a race weekend.

The Finnish driver has been living the good life and is certainly more relaxed since leaving Mercedes at the end of the 2021 season to join the Swiss-based outfit. In Melbourne, Bottas embraced Australian culture and became a crowd favourite with his attire and style.

While speaking to Motorsportweek, he said:

“For me, it’s important. 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. 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 our personal time, so for me, it’s important to be able to switch focus to other things."

He continued:

"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 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."

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“It’s great to see him flourish and feel more and more a part of himself" - Lewis Hamilton on Valtteri Bottas

Lewis Hamilton, a former teammate of Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes for five years, said that he's very happy for the Finn, as he's embracing his new self. Hamilton said:

“It’s great, I just saw Valtteri in flip flops right now with his tan lines around his socks, his sock line! It’s great to see him flourish and feel more and more a part of himself and knowing where he wants to go."

The Briton continued:

“I think just for everyone, it’s a whole discovery process, isn’t it? Compartmentalising and just making space for happiness away from the track. I think probably the same applies to everyone here; all of us work so hard; we’re all traveling so much, and we’re all away from our families and friends so much that we’re missing out on a lot of things."

It's nice to see that Valtteri Bottas' new persona has been accepted by his peers and fans since his departure from Mercedes.