“I thought you just liked racing?”: Valtteri Bottas ruthlessly castigated by F1 fans for his ‘hypocrite’ Women’s Day wish 

Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas has attracted ruthless scrutiny from the F1 community after his apparently hypocritical act on International Women’s Day.

The 2024 Saudi Arabian GP is around the corner, with FP1, 2, and 3 done and dusted. The qualifying stint on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is scheduled for today, between 20:00-21:00 Track Time. The 50-lap race, spanning across the 27-turn asphalt will commence on Saturday, March 9, at 20:00 Track Time.

Ahead of the second Grand Prix on the 2024 F1 calendar, a race preview discussion with a few F1 drivers took place. It comprised Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, and Yuki Tsunoda.

During the conference, a journalist enquired about Formula 1's majority of the focus being diverted to off-track activities and whether is it healthy for the sport or not. The question was posted by Formula Whatever on their X (formerly Twitter account):

"[F1] is experiencing the moment that everybody is talking about a lot more what happens off-track than on. As a driver, how do you look at that, is this healthy for F1, for you both?"

Stroll was the first one to answer and said with a seemingly awkward chuckle:

"I just like driving cars."

Valtteri Bottas chimed in and shared his thoughts, saying:

"Same for me. In the end, we are here to do our job which is what we love which is to race and there's always talk in the sport, sometimes more sometimes less."

The 10x F1 race winner added:

"I feel like this year, off-track, maybe a bit much but I mean if people rate those things then it's good thing for the media, right?"

Next was the Haas driver who was asked to share his views:

"I'm not really affected. I read it, I see it but when you're active, if you're so focused on what you do, then you don't really buy into it."

A few hours back, the #77 Sauber driver posted a message on the occasion of International Women's Day, writing, "Hey, Happy International Women’s Day 🌹#VB77"

Valtteri Bottas' tweet caught the attention of the fans, and they were quick to correlate what he said during the press conference.

A fan slammed the 34-year-old driver for his 'hypocrisy':

"no hypocrisy, please," wrote the fan

Here are a few reactions who shared mutual belief and brutally slammed Valtteri Bottas for his tweet:

Valtteri Bottas opens up about his painful pitstop at the Bahrain GP

The Finnish driver started his run at the season-opener race from P16, after failing to get past Q1 with a slow qualifying time of 1:30.646 minutes.

Furthermore, during turn 1 on the very first lap, a contact between Stroll and Hulkenberg occurred, and Valtteri Bottas got trapped, brushing past the Haas car. The contact damaged C44's front wing.

However, the bigger misery came on lap 30, when he went for a pitstop only to realize that the interspersed wheel nut had some issues. It took a staggering 52.4 seconds to send Valtteri Bottas back on the 5.412 km Bahrain International Circuit.

Bottas reflected upon his P19 finish as he faced disaster at the 57-lap race not once but twice. He said (via F1 official release):

“Obviously there was an issue with the wheel nut. Something to investigate to make sure it doesn’t happen again, I think that’s the main take from me today. And also, unlucky with the Turn 1 incident – I had a bit of damage in the front wing."

The C44 driver added:

“It wasn’t actually a huge effect, just slight understeer maybe in certain corners, but nothing huge.”

“So, not my day, but hopefully that’s my bad luck for the year done!”