Valtteri Bottas has decided to swap a one-hour flight for a 220-mile cycle ride as he makes his way from Malaysia to Singapore for the next grand prix.
The Cadillac driver spun out of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, taking place for one year only at the Sepang International Circuit, 40 miles outside the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Yet straight after the race, the 37-year-old revealed on Strava that he is planning to cycle from the Malaysian track to the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, in time for obligatory media duties on Thursday. On Sunday, he completed 56km of his 350km trip.
Bottas, who formerly raced for Williams, Mercedes and Alfa Romeo/Sauber and has won 10 times in Formula 1, is a keen cyclist, regularly undertaking rides around F1 tracks and in the south of France. He has also qualified for the gravel world championships on multiple occasions.
Cadillac, who also boast fellow grand prix winner Sergio Perez in their ranks, are yet to score a point in their first season in the sport.
On Sunday, Bottas spun into the gravel and out of the race nine laps in as he opted to start on ‘slick’ dry tyres despite the wet conditions.
"It was always going to be a risk starting on the slicks with the soft tyre compound and today, it didn’t quite pay off,” he said afterwards.
"When the race started and I saw how fast the cars with the intermediate tyres went through, you quickly realise the situation you’re in. We thought the track would dry quicker, and we thought it was worth trying something, but in the end it didn't work out.
"I took some risks trying to keep up with the pack and in the end it was my mistake that ended our race, and I can only apologise to the team for that."
Cadillac have seven more opportunities to avoid becoming the first team since Haas in 2021 not to score a world championship point in a single season.
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