Dynamic Life: Valtteri Bottas’ Balance

Valtteri Bottas is the Formula 1 driver of the Stake F1 team. He is also a winemaker – he has his own brand of Ihana Australian wine and his own brand of Oath Gin, and he also owns 20% of Kahiwa coffee. He also does charity work, participates in cycling, trains a lot, and performs in Formula 1! We met with the driver in Shanghai as part of the Chinese Grand Prix and asked how he finds the balance between his professional commitments and personal pursuits, what his typical day looks like during the season, how many kilometres he has already cycled on the track and much more.

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Jastina Golopolosova: Hello Valtteri! It’s nice to meet you, and I’m glad to see you in China! The last race was here five years ago. Have these years flown by unnoticeably for you, or are they still felt?

Valtteri Bottas: Hello! It’s nice to meet you, too! Yeah, a lot has happened in the five years since I’ve been back. But I definitely became even more experienced and a better driver during those years. For this weekend, everything has stayed the same on track here, so it should be straightforward to get back into it.

Jastina: Okay. Let’s dive straight in. We all know the intense demands of Formula 1, but what does a typical day in Valtteri Bottas’s life look like during the racing season?

Valtteri: The nice thing about this sport is that every day is different because you travel to various locations. Sometimes, it is just full-time on track and occasionally full-time off track, so every day is different. But you know I like cycling, so that’s quite often how I spend my days off: exploring various places and trying to see and try new things.

Jastina: How do you prioritize self-care and relaxation amidst the chaos of race weekends?

Valtteri: Yeah, it’s a lot of travelling, and it’s busy days, so sleep is vital. So I’ve found that, and luckily, I have good gifts of sleep, so I sleep well, which helps a lot. But yeah, as long as you can have a good night’s sleep, it’s incredible how much energy you can actually have. But yeah, it’s not always easy to avoid illness and stuff like that because of travelling, but you’ve just got to try and find the right balance.

Jastina: Great! Outside of Formula 1, you do business. Most recently, you even launched your own…