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F1 INSPIRED TIPS EVERY CYCLIST SHOULD KNOW | BOTTAS

with Bottas

46:29·3 April 2024

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BOTTAS

Valtteri Bottas has gone from Formula 1 podiums to gravel grinding in Finland, and he's brought the same high-performance mindset that defined his Mercedes years to cycling. We dig into how F1 drivers approach feedback, manage pressure, stay calm under extreme competition, and why he's now spending five to seven days a week on the bike.

Key Takeaways

Direct, professional feedback without taking things personally is how top teams amplify performance—it works in F1, cycling, and any high-performance environment.
Contract stability removes unnecessary pressure; once you stop fighting for your seat, you can focus on the pressure you create from within to perform.
Cycling serves as both serious conditioning and genuine passion—elite athletes need an activity that trains the body without the mental weight of their primary sport.
Your inner circle should be small and intentional; as your profile rises, learning to distinguish genuine friends from those seeking advantage becomes critical.
Never give up and learn from mistakes are the two foundational values that separate people who reach their goals from those who don't.
Success isn't about being fearless in the car—it's about maintaining the illusion of control and only feeling uncomfortable when you actually lose it.

Expert Quotes

"I would say the biggest thing I got was always taught that never give up because then yeah if you don't try and if you give up along the way then for sure you're not going to achieve your goals."

"When I got to Mercedes I wanted to win immediately, I wanted to beat Lewis immediately and I was really, really hard on myself—too hard on myself. I probably would tell myself to calm down a bit."

"The best pressure is the one from yourself and once you get to the point that you can actually control it, that's ideal. Only pressure that affects me now is only my own one, nothing from the outside."

KEY QUOTES

“before I met Tiffany it was more like once maximum twice a week versus now it's five to seven days a week”
Bottas — Formula 1 driver

“if you want to develop as a team for long term then you need to work together there can't be any hiding of the Telemetry uh if if another driver finds a different line or different way of driving or different things with the settings or setup we we share everything we're actually obliged to share everything but I don't mind doing it because it it amplifies both of our performance in in the weekend but also in long term”
Bottas — Formula 1 driver

“diving is actually banned because it can mess with your if something happens is it going to mess with your inner ear and that way with your balance which obviously you need for driving”
Bottas — Formula 1 driver

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT2 SECTIONS

Meet Valtteri Bottas and the golden mullet

Today's guest is a big one it is Formula 1 fast man valter Bas today's podcast we're going to talk a little bit about his F1 career but I want to dig in talking cycling Bas has recently started riding the bike we're going to talk about his new event in Finland Finland gravel and his relationship with cyclin as a conditioning tool and for fun and enjoyment let's dive in and talk with fast man Mr vry BAS Al three welcome to the show thanks for having me a prerequisite in gravel cyclin seems to be strong mullet and strong mustache game you've gone hard on that you focus big on it yeah yeah I I I feel like there's bit of performance with that combo so I would agree was that much of a focus in your offseason training just getting to the barber going to a real vision for what this mullet could become um you know with me things just normally happen and yeah this uh this winter well summer in Australia that I had um the golden mullet happened I I just keep telling everyone that it was the Australian that bleach my hair but yeah I mean yeah like I said things just happen and now it's golden mullet what's Tiff think of it uh she likes it at least that's what she she says so I won't hear any different from more yeah maybe it's an obvious question but did your interest in cyclin did it predate your relationship yeah probably I mean I I did um I did always like cycling I always rode my bike uh part of my physical training but to be honest before I met Tiffany it was more like once maximum TW twice a week versus now it's five to seven days a week oh seriously yeah yeah I mean when I get a chance to ride then I I do obviously I travel lot I've got lots of other things going on than just the driving but when I when the bike is available when I have time I'm always out there you travel with a bike yeah I do I do travel with the bike but also now this year I've stared to get quite a nice setup uh in terms of bicycles so I've got a couple of bikes in Australia where I'm actually about to travel tonight uh then I've got the my bikes in Europe in Finland and about to get some bikes in us as well so that that's going to help with the calendar nice how does it work for you guys you flying private or you crammed into Ryan a with your bike trying to con the baggage man that your bike's only 23 kilograms when it's actually like 48 yeah so um all the L haul flights like overseas I I do commercial uh so yeah then I travel with my bike bag um if if I don't have bike there but in Europe yeah fortunately can can travel um privately quite a bit so that that helps for sure I love that visual that you're still trying to play the same game we're all playing of trying to pretend your bike bag is underweight when it's overweight so you don't get pinged for excess yeah yeah I know it's uh you know it's been in there sometimes but it's always worth it is it in your F1 contract anything about cycling gravel because you know the line between gravel cycling and mountain biking it's pretty thin these days I raced Santa Val and Jona couple of months ago and honestly it was like a mountain bike race it was dangerous in part on a gravel bike and I know Lance stroll if I remember had a bad crash on his bike last year and ended up missing some races is it built into your contract that you can't do certain things uh there's nothing about cycling so thank God that's that's allowed and I think it's going to be fine as long as I don't hurt myself you know so when I do like gravel events and and training rides I kind of always need to leave bit of margin in some situations and you know just try look at the big picture and make sure that um at least I don't cause any any trouble but then of course there's other Riders and you never know what happens in the road Etc but yeah thankfully nothing about cycling so that's all allowed even racing um but there's some other things like free climbing is Ban which I wouldn't really want to do anyway with other ropes um then there's like um people find it normally quite interesting diving is actually banned because it can mess with your if something happens is it going to mess with your inner ear and that way with your balance which obviously you need for driving like I've never wanted to do free climbing like I watch Alex hunnell on the wall and I'm like that looks crazy but I think as soon as somebody told me I couldn't do it then i' be like no I want to go free climbing yeah so maybe I'll try one day but not not in the next year what's the role of the bike like formally is there obviously you guys are working with conditioning coaches is the bike built in as part of your training do you have a cycling specific coach or is it more just into your overall conditioning ecosystem well I I have some some goals in in cycling like I always want to improve year by year my performance on the bike and it is all the training that I do cycling is definitely by far in in ours the the number one that I do but especially when the season my racing season gets closer with Motorsports then I need need to do more specific training um bit more gym work and try to mix it up a bit more just to ride my bike but then in in season it's a combination normally of of gym and bike riding but um it works for me I feel good good in the car and uh obviously with traveling with time differences I do need to limit my hours sometimes more than um I would like to but that's how it is because I need to in the end I need to have good energy going to into every um for one R weekend yeah because that's something with cying isn't it and I've even talked to to worldour Riders about this like we all seem to have a a tolerance threshold for cycling I know for me we're trying to do the podcast everyone's like oh you still have so much available time that you're fulltime on the podcast it's like yeah but if I do a three-hour ride in the morning and I come back then to do a podcast interview I'm just toast like I can't think of anything to say I'm just like oh leave me alone I want to sit on the couch and watch Netflix yeah I mean yeah you know the the hours that PR men do yeah that would be not really possible for me with my schedule and and obviously with my main focus being formal one that's a noo but um yeah when I have like weeks off or weekends of then I try to get my long rides in but then on on the race week obviously I need to find that right right balance how geeky have you gone with cand are you into obviously Formula One is quite geeked out on coish of frontal drag Arrow have you started going down that road and bringing bikes to winon uh I haven't had my bike yet in the Wind Tunnel but Canyon takes care of that on their development and uh I'm yeah quite heavily involved with with Canyon as a as a brand as one of their ambassadors and they know know what they're doing basically with bikes but I'm yeah I'm a big fan of technology I I love seeing the Innovative things popping up every now and then um how much the technology has improved even in the last few years is is always really nice to follow you know what's coming up next and yeah I'm I'm definitely interested in in that kind of stuff and and when I do a gravel event myself um I don't leave any stone unturned I wouldn't be on the start start line without without the best bits that you can possibly get so have you played around with core body temperature yet uh yeah I've been recording that every every now and then um and yeah I've kind kind of managed to find that correlation in terms of my feeling and and what the data showed and actually for a while now I haven't used it but um yeah there's so so much Tech as well in terms of the human performance and what you can measure whether it's your core temp or glucose levels and stuff like that which is quite interesting talk to me about your gravel event you seem like a man who is spinning 100 plates already like why take the plunge and start spinning another plate that just looks difficult to spin sitting up and gravel race um I just love love riding my gravel bike I I love gravel events that's the reason and like anything that I I am involved um is is normally through passion first and yeah gravel cycling is is a big passion for me and uh yeah also you know with with Finland gravel that we we hosted for the very first time in in L to Finland last year that place is um amazing place for gravel and just really want to Showcase what what Finland can offer on that and and anyone who joined they absolutely loved it so yeah it's it's really with with passion and and wanting to you know Share the Fun that I feel when I do a gravement to the others when is it almost trug it over and check it out yeah so it's uh June 15th this year uh in L Finland and uh registration is open Finland grable.com and we still got actually plenty of spaces left it feels like Europe is a bit slow and waking up to the event and still deciding the calendars yeah it still feels like winter here so like I haven't committed anything for the summer yet normally I'm like oh will I do Rift in July but I'm like weather's so bad I'm going to look at that one I want to talk high performance for a second traveling all the way back to when you were grown up do you think there was values that your parents instilled in you as child that pay away for your success now and later life my wish is handsand the best virtual cycling app for home and it's redefining indoor training at no cost yep it's absolutely free and setting up my wish is really easy just download the My Wish app connect to your device like your W bike or your smart trainer and off you go now if you're feeling competitive there's weekly races for every category from beginner to Pro plus there's insane prize money upper grabs now if you've no plan to race that's no problem there's hundreds of free training plans and workouts that are designed to really push you to your limits you can enjoy daily group rides and group workouts and you can customize your avatar all without opening your wallet so go on over to the My Wish app and have a look around why spend money on monthly subscriptions elsewhere when my wish offers all of this for free so join my wish today it's available on iOS Mac OS Google play Apple TV or click on the link in the show notes to get started I would say the big biggest thing I I got always thought that never give up because then yeah if you don't try and if you give up along the way then for sure you're not going to achieve your goals I think that's the one that throughout my career since a kid um never willing to give up I think that's probably the biggest one but also learning from from your mistakes I think my parents really were good on Guiding on that that yeah if you mess up if you do a mistake it's uh you need to admit it that's the first step and that way you can make sure it doesn't happen again and you get better so I would say two things not giving up and learning from the mistakes has been always the the mindset I've been carrying since since is a get for whenever I'm traveling I seem to pick up and just gravitate in the airport towards stoic philosophy books and at the moment I've been reading one of the Ryan holiday ones which is just sprinkled with these amazing quotes but one of them is from SIA and he said if one does not know to which Port one is sailing then no wind is favorable basically do we know what our destination is and do you think you had that Vision when you were a kid like did you have the posters on your wall of you know Michael schum marker or Your Heroes at the time and almost dream it into reality yeah I was watching all the F1 races on on TV um obviously that time it wasn't pay TV yet so everything was broadcasted in Finland I watched every race live no matter which time it was um which is like yeah cool memories waking up you know 4:00 a.m.

Childhood dream of Formula 1

5: a.m. um excited to see the race um and then afterwards I would go on my PlayStation and do the same track and you know so definitely luckily I I did realize what I want early on um I was six years old when I decided I want to be a former One D and yeah at that point it was big dream um obviously when you're so young you don't realize what it's going to take but that's what I kind of decided and and uh I think then some years after maybe when I was like 11 12 I started to get a bit more clear picture on on on the goal and realized that if I want to get there I need to focus all my energy into that goal and everything else needs to be secondary and that's what I did I'm glad it worked out because otherwise um I don't know what I would would be doing um probably playing ice hockey because that was my other sport in the winter but um yeah so luckily early on I I found that goal and found that path to to follow and focus all my energy on that it's such a mesmerizing sport as a kid I remember my dad used to be in the Army and he take me into work and one of my like most strongest memories from that period is just watching Formula 1 races in work with him and I used to bring in my little do you ever play SK electrics I used to bring in my scale electric set yeah and play it on the ground and I remember spraying one of the scale electric cars red to be like H marker Ferrari but it's just so overpowering your sensus Formula 1 because it's you know it's rock and roll it's it's amazing it's a sensory overload yeah it is it is and for me my my hero as a kid was Mika hackin who was battling in the 90s with with Michael and why he was my hero yeah for sure because he's from Finland but you know the way his career went um he had this difficult accident in 1995 went to Coma almost died you know but still managed to come back next season and got his first win eventually in 97 and then his titles in 98 99 and for me he was a hero because he definitely never gave up and even with big setbacks he always believed in his dream and always kept the focus so yeah I still remember watching his um his first win in 97 uh it was actually the race where Michael and Jack Winer crashed together in in the last race of the season and then Mika won it and that was like amazing and I knew immediately next year he's going to win the title and so he did that was cool to follow but how do you keep that Focus because focus is a word you've dropped time and time again there focus focus focus because as you step up the level and especially to where you are now you know only 20 seats at the top table you must have more and more people trying to insert themselves into your life and we have that old expression that are the you are the average of The Five People You spend most time with how purposeful do you have to be at curating that inner circle of five people yeah def definitely something I've learned along the way um I feel like yeah once I got into into Formula One um all of a sudden I had lots of friends lots of friends you know everyone wanted to be my mate um and yeah it's kind of I think when you're young it's kind of tricky to filter it out like who's really your friend and who just wants to hang out with you because they think you're doing something cool and that they might benefit out out of it somehow but then along the way you definitely uh learn to let's say smell you know the good people and the less less good people and what are they intentions and yeah my like circle of friends that I could really call friends is is quite small uh which is nice I don't need many many friends is more about the quality than the than the quantity and um yeah then in the end you just learn to learn to deal with it and you learn to do things in in your way for sure sometimes you need to be bit selfish let's say if you want to find your own time and still have that freedom to do things that you want to do instead of things that others want to do so it's it's um I've definitely learned that through throughout the career but like I said when you're young it's not always so easy my test is as the podcast is sort of grown it's like obviously nowhere near the level that you're getting uh you know artificial people inserting yourself into your life but on a much smaller level my test is who would I give a call to help me move a couch if I need somebody to lift a couch who am I calling exact four or five people in there yeah yeah true yeah there's not many people I would ask ask for that but yeah good one I talked to Olaf bu on the podcast he's a triathlon coach I'm not sure do you know Olaf I don't know him personally no but not the name interesting d uh wor having a chat with if you ever get the opportunity but he coaches the two very best triathletes in the world uh blumel and Eden they're it's an individual sport obviously and they're each other's biggest Rivals but what struck me when I was chatting to him he's created a culture where the two guys who are the biggest competitors with each other as soon as one of them finds something that works they find a new fueling strategy they find an aerodynamic gain in the Wind Tunnel the first thing they do it's to share that information with their biggest rival he's he's curated this environment where that's possible and because of that the two guys have just accelerated away from everyone else there's them and then there's the rest and there's a huge gap Formula 1 is a pretty unique sport in that it seems there's a inbuilt rivalry between the two drivers on a team how do those two sit with the idea of sharing with someone to level up versus that rivalry that's inherent in within a team yeah that's that's tricky bit in the sport because for me um and for anyone driving in in form one your direct comparison is your teammate because he he's in the same car with same performance and so on so yeah you want to make sure for your future um that you're you stay ahead of your teammate at least overall in the season in terms of the on the points you get that's super important because if you are let's say always losing to a teammate at some point you're you're out that's how this boort works but if you want to develop as a team for long term then you need to work together there can't be any hiding of the Telemetry uh if if another driver finds a different line or different way of driving or different things with the settings or setup we we we share everything we're actually obliged to share everything but I don't mind doing it because it it like you just explained with the two triathletes it it amplifies both of our performance in in the weekend but also in long term and that's going to help the team as well to go forwards and it is a real team sport the team spirit plays a big part on on everything and The Chemistry Between the drivers that reflects quite a lot I've seen uh to the team how they how how the atmosphere is how the energy levels is so it's super important to be able to be professional in that sense that you are willing to uh let's say give some of your secrets away uh to your teammate but in the long term that's always going to be better do you need a confidence to do that though as a young driver or if you're insecure your place in the team as soon as you find a gain is your natural instinct self-preservation rather than sharing hey Roan excuse the short interruption and I love riding the bike but on account of being so busy with the podcast at the moment I'm now what's called a time crunch Rider I never thought I'd see today but I have a tool I'm using W bike to keep myself sharp and on point with specific sessions to maximize that available training time I have a walk bike atam right here in the recording studio beside me and when I have an hour in between interviews I jump on it's removing all the friction points from me there's no more 10 minute setup unfolding legs banging my knees off stuff getting my hands dirty usual connection issues it just works every single time the atom's perfect for virtual racing as well because it has crisp gear changes it has 1% accuracy and it has Max gradient capability of up to 25% if you're looking for an indoor trainer I honestly couldn't recommend this any higher I've been using a w bike since 2013 honestly it's the last indoor trainer that you're ever going to need if you head on over to what bike.com now and use code roadman 10 that's r o a d m n t n and that's going to get you 10% off your W um I think for me I've now been uh quite a few years in this Sport and it just become it has become normal you know the the debriefs we do before and after each session they are quite detailed and naturally you go through every test item you give your feedback on how it felt um all these things so it it comes naturally that you you share everything and then in the end it is up to the drivers when it comes to qualifying when it comes to race to see who finishes ahead uh with all the information we we have we have shared the feedback loop is very important whether we're talking Formula One we're talking Trion or we're talking you know a high performance business environment is there a secret to cultivate in that environment where you can openly give feedback and receive feedback without it turning into a conflict or without it being defensive feedback is the key you know you need to be able to say things that um you feel like can be improved or needs to be improved and nothing in this sport shouldn't be taken personally I think the team teams are really aware of that that yeah you need to be very straightforward with your feedback you shouldn't feel uh bad on asking about something or saying that okay this doesn't work you just need to say it as as you feel uh because that makes progress um if you try to be kind to everyone then yeah you probably will miss some of the the things that you ideas you have and so on so direct feedback is is the key and it's actually a very big part of the driver's job uh obviously there's lots of sensors there's lots of data that team is getting from the car but then in the end uh there is still this human element that the driver driver in the Lo Loop so you need to give your feedback like what what you feel like you you need from the car um to go faster in this race also in long term like when it comes to design and development ideas uh you always need to think about what's next what's next because that's how the sport Works do you enjoy the job I do I do I've always been enjoying the technical side um and I like to be overall as a as a human I like to be in control that's where I'm most comfortable with things and uh in this sport when I get in my car I get that Sensation that yeah I'm in control and I continue to set up with the engineers stuffs and that's that's a nice feeling like when you're in you're in the heat of battle and you know there's going to be times where the nature of putting 20 alpha males into multi-million dollar super cars is there's going to be conflict there's going to be times when you lose your control and just bringing a back and grounding it in a real world example for me if I'm out on the bike cycling and I get a close pass from a car in traffic I've been historically quite reactive that I've let it spoil my Spain sometimes I've chased after a driver and you know it's ended up in a confrontation and with trying to be more Mindful and stoic what I've realized is there's actually there's a gap there's a gap between the stimulus that being the close pass and my reaction and I've tried to work really hard on extend ending the time of that Gap so by breathing and just saying okay take two three deep breaths after this stimulus happens before you decide on what your reaction is going to be and that's really helped me to kind of keep cool is there strategies or tactics that you use to keep cool in the heater bottle it's uh I think naturally I'm quite a calm person and don't get let's say heated up that that easily uh um I feel like I'm quite good on controlling my my emotions but sometimes I can't help it you know in in the race if yeah things turn to turn to uh or something happens that really frustrates me sometimes when you are competing when you are your body is high on adrenaline you know you're in in that moment sometimes it's just impossible to control yourself you just open the radio and you shout whatever comes from inside that just happens sometimes which is quite funny then thinking afterwards like oh that wasn't that nice to that person or this person but yeah you know in competition sometimes you can't help it but uh like I said mostly I'm I'm okay who's the most dangerous driver most dangerous driver um I suppose there's two answers to this question isn't there there's probably a big data statistically person is the most dangerous driver and then there's the the answer that probably we all care about is like who do you think the most dangerous driver is yeah I mean I think now I feel like on the on the field there's no one that really stands out as as a dangerous driver actually like if you go back a few years ago I would probably have said max um just the way he he competes but he's matured a lot U I think now he's calculating a bit bit more the risks than than before he would just always go for it um now I would still go for someone pretty young who's still lacking bit of experience but honestly I can't sorry I can't say a name like there's nobody that really stands out but normally the more you have experience then the less dangerous you are what's your relationship like with Max it's good yeah he um he all right I mean yeah he's in a good place at the moment dominating the sport uh so that's why he's pretty chilled and and laid back and and happy but um yeah he's all right just's not like a historical vein of conflict from your Mercedes days and the kind of Jews you would have had with the Red Bulls back then no no I think in in this sport typically people forget things quite quickly and and move on and uh get on with it how much of a change was it moving from Mercedes I suppose you could almost divide your career into two chapters Mercedes and then non Mercedes going from being in the very best car in the world to not being in the best cars in the world how big a change is that it's a big change like um yeah I I was you know I had quite a bit of time to mentally prepare for it because I knew that yeah it's probably going to be years that I'm going to be back on the podium or having results like that at least um but I took it as as a project that was my Approach that yeah it's a long-term project yeah it might be difficult um well it will be difficult it will be hard work but I've been just trying to think that how rewarding it will feel eventually if we get to the goals that we have set um you know going through that let's say harder period of time then achieving something after I think that would be even more rewarding than uh than being in a car that you're almost guaranteed you're going to be on the podium you know so that's the motivation now is to is the progress and to get back up there and thinking how good that will that will feel when it happens do you think it's actually harder for Lewis in some ways than it is for you because at least you had that conscious choice that okay now I'm going to be in a card it's not as fast where he's had to be a part of a program that's just slowly lost their Edge I I think it's been it's been hard for for the whole team actually because Mercedes was dominating for quite a long time and when I was there we won yeah five Constructor titles in a row um and yeah since then that hasn't happened and when you're used to winning and if you're not winning anymore it's it's painful and uh yeah seems like they're still trying to find their way way in terms of the car design and everything but um yeah probably part of the reason why Lewis went I think he needs something um something new something refreshing A new challenge project which um I'm sure he's going to enjoy that he still friends with Le yeah absolutely yeah he's um yeah get on get on really well some us travel together and um yeah can you ride a bike no he doesn't like to ride a bike he said his butt hurts when he does that so that's his uh excuse do you think he can win an eight drivers Championship I see no reason why not I think he's still on a great level but for that he just needs the car you know that that's the sport if you want to win the title you need to be in the best car because the gaps between the drivers is quite small so if if he can lift up Ferrari's performance in the future then absolutely what's the Shelf like like sorry what's the shelf life on drivers you know obviously it's it's not an an endurance sport in the traditional sense but there's still huge physical requirements on you guys you where do you think the age obviously Alonzo's you know no spring chicken I don't know what age is off the top of my head but is there an age in your mind where driver start to decline yeah so I think Fernando is now about 42 something like this and he's bit of an outlier let's say in nowadays Formula 1 I think LS will be next year 40 I think so I mean that's I feel like Fernando's age that that's pushing it it's individual of course everyone ages differently but it is a fact that at some point with ag your reaction time starts to get slower your decision Mak process starts to get slower but obviously example for him hasn't happened yet when it will happen who knows but um it's it's quite a wide range nowadays yeah you can be 18 you can be competitive or you can be low 40s and still be fine so I'm now 34 so I still got got some time and uh yeah got some time to get back on the podiums eventually something that's fascinating about Formula One to me it it is it is that car it's you all you guys all have different cars so I find it difficult to answer the underlying question of who's the best driver like is Max actually the best driver is Lewis the best driver are you the best driver is there a consensus it's it's hard to say you know if everyone would have the same car that's how we would find out in in in the course of the season um I think it's quite easy would be easy to say now that Max is up there because he is obviously in the in the best car but but he's also destroying his teammate um so yeah in terms of current form if I would have to guess somebody I would probably say Max he's very complete driver he's super talented but now also a talent with with experience um but um yeah when I was at Mercedes and when I left from Mercedes I I I was very clear that um LS was the best best driver out there which for me was kind of hard to hard to accept because you always need to believe that you are the best um yeah but um yeah you know the the numbers they didn't lie you know five years in a row overall he he always somehow managed to beat me obviously on my on my best day I could on my good days I could I could do that um which is a good feeling but over the course of the Season how Dynamic he was how his position was in in the team uh I could could find a way to to beat him but um yeah I would say I would go for Max lose do you enjoy the pressure to perform there's no job I can think that's as a result driven you know people will talk about Traders Wall Street guys they sales people they live and dieo or quarterly sales but there's only 20 seats at the top table you're racing literally every weekend for your contract it seems does that stress Empower you or does it break you down Rob man I know how serious you take your goal setting whether they're Fitness or life related goals if you're looking for a powerful aloy to support you on this journey look now further than hu hu has become my secret weapon for when I don't have time to prepare a balanced meal it ensures I get the nutrition I need without sacrificing time or taste plus it stops me from reaching for that takeaway menu I always throw a bottle into my backpack when I'm heading into the city to work and it stops me eating junk convenience food snacking on crossons and bars of chocolate because I know they don't support my training goals it's a handy nutritious meal on the go and it's got over 22 grams of protein hule is perfect for athletes that don't have time to cook or prepare food before a training session it's convenient nutritious fuel at your fingertips ensuring you hit your daily fueling needs for that session hu ready to drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals in every single bottle you're getting a whopping 175 health benefits plus it's made from natural ingredients like Topeka Sunfire seed coconut and more the best part it's the flavors there's eight crazy beautiful flavors iced coffee is what's in my backpack right at the moment you can get Ule directly to your home all you got to do is head on over to the hu website hu.com Roan you you get used to it you know I I got pretty thick skin let's say at Mercedes ear because I had a like a long-term contract but every year was a different option and the option was always on the team so every year I almost had this knife on my throat that if I don't perform I'm I'm out so year after year it starts to get exhaust exhausting and I only realized then when I signed with um with Alpha saber uh for three-year contract that it felt like big weight left my of my shoulders because actually having that stability no that yeah okay this is where I'm going to be for the next years that's the goal um almost could breathe you know a bit easier um so it is it is stressful if if you're uh on the knife edge let's say um but again with the career as as you go further and further you just learn better to deal with it and you learn that the best pressure is is the one from yourself and once you get to the point that you can actually control it um that's that's idea and I feel like I've I've definitely got there that um only pressure that I have is um that affects me is only my own one um nothing from the outside what motivates you at this point in your career you know you didn't share your bank account details with me before the before the call but I'm thinking there's a pretty big number in that account so it can't be money it can't be status like what motivates you to get up and do this every day you know it's um yeah it's definitely definitely not money um I would be happy just if there was no formal one uh just riding my gravel bike doing with a bit more gravel races um simple life maybe have a van go around come and coost podcast with me yeah sure um so yeah it's obviously not bad but what motivates me now is I want to get back to podiums and back to winning eventually so yeah that's that's the motivation for me and um I I kind of failed on on winning the World Championship with Mercedes I was couple of times second so that dream is still there but now the next step is to be on the podium and then to win a race and then we go from there but how and when that's going to happen I don't know that's the beauty of is this sport you never know how things change you never know how the which teams are going to be strong where you end up and actually yeah for the very first time in few years now I'm fully open in terms of the contract situation I'm basically on open market um in terms of um the contract so that's quite exciting because I think there's going to be quite a bit of movement for 2025 onwards does the risk to reward ratio change for you season on season when you come into Formula 1 for the first time and you get the big paycheck you know you're you're taking risks obviously every week you're dealing with the chance of debt in a more explicit way than in any other profession in the world but as you start to accumulate more and more wealth you have this safety net where you're like okay maybe I don't need to take the same risks I did when I was in year one year two do you think about that at all do you think about your own mortality and that risk to reward ratio changing no I honestly I I don't think about it like I think it's when you get it in the car U when you put the racing helmet on you get this illusion that nothing can happen to you um as long as you're in control it's only when you lose control and you know whether somebody hits you or or you you lose the car in the corner you're about to hit the wall that's the only uncomfortable situation that it's it doesn't feel good but when you're in the car in control yeah you you don't think about it you just want to maximize whether it's a qualifying lap or whether it's a resing situation you just want to maximize the situation and kind of deal with the consequences later I think that's something you need to have if you want to be a driver you have a unique calmness about you I've chatted with about 950 people on podcasts over the past couple of years you're a very calm individual I want to peel back your brain for a second and try and figure out what's going on inside that head yeah so when you're sitting down to watch YouTube in the evening it's like you know what are you flicking on what are you watching actually I don't watch YouTube that much uh there's too many ads and stuff going on I'll give I'll give the cheat code here Bel you got to take 10 EUR a month and upgrade to premium bro it's only 10 really gets rid of ads yeah good to know I'll do that tonight um YouTube If I Got YouTube I would actually watch probably some fails maybe something funny funny stuff um sometimes I I do watch some bike stuff whether it's about a Bike Tech if something new has come up I will try to find some stuff about that um sometimes I do watch some car reviews if I'm thinking about changing my um Road car or or getting a new one stuff like that nothing nothing unusual what do you think about the big YouTubers like David goggin and that kind of motivational nature it's good for them obviously it's good good business as well so good good for them and uh yeah it's it's nice that nowadays just online you can share so much to people um that wasn't really possible before and um yeah I mean and it's great opportunities for many uh young YouTubers as well you know if you if you find a way to do something different there's um you can actually make a great great career out with which is cool what you have this I don't know how to throw a blanket over it we'll call it high performance what you have is something that they try to replicate my girlfriend used to be working in a big pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson and they would have speakers coming in all the time like you know some F1 drivers Olympic medalists all black Ruby players they'd come in and they' encourage them to tell their stories with the goal of some of this high performance rubbing off I'm not sure if you've heard Hulk Hogan on Joe Rogan he talks about this idea the rob you can get the Rob if you hang around the right type of people do you think you can teach high performance or do you need to find it by yourself um I think part of it part of it you can you can teach I think you can always I think it helps to hear other people's experiences on how they got to a certain point What it Took what was their mindset what they've learned um I think it it definitely can help with your your journey on getting where you want to be is to listen others and listen advice but I think it needs you need to be really careful who you listen to because in the end every human being is individual and not everything works for everyone you know you need to find kind of find your own way but I wouldn't be afraid of taking advice but always have your own own filter and follow your your gut as well if you're knew right now if you had all your knowledge from right now and you could pass some specific tipet or piece of knowledge back to yourself at the very start of this journey what would you whisper in your own ear uh I wouldn't say too much because I've made a good career already um only thing I do sometimes think about this only thing I would say is especially on my first years with Mercedes I would have told myself to give myself a bit more time because when I got to that team I wanted to win immediately I wanted to beat Lew immediately and I was really really hard on myself too too hard on myself and creating uh too much unnecessary pressure um so I probably tell myself to calm down a bit and give give yourself bit more time take it step by step and um yeah that's pretty much the only thing I would say but otherwise wouldn't say too much we started out the podcast and we were talking about this idea of having a filter that you are the the average of Five People You surround yourself with is high performance lonely you know with is that filter something that you maybe filter out meaningful connections no it doesn't need to be like I said like I I've got yeah few good friends that I can really rely on um yeah got my family got my partner that I can speak anything about so no high performance doesn't need to be lonely because in the end high performance is human performance and to be at your best um and to be good in human performance you need all these areas in life in in Balance otherwise it's not not sustainable so yeah you can't do anything alone really in in this world um because you have the support of others that you can get energy out out from and you can get advice um so yeah it doesn't need to be long it's good to know you have a few Lads you can move a coach with yeah few L to have a p vry thank you for your time my friend yeah thank you my pleasure so if you like this video you should definitely check out this video cuz I know you're going to love it and don't forget get to subscribe to the channel

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How does Valtteri Bottas fit cycling training into an F1 race weekend schedule?+

Bottas explains that during race weeks, cycling volume drops significantly and gym work takes priority to keep fatigue manageable. He treats ride sessions around race weekends as maintenance rather than load-building, ensuring he arrives at the circuit fresh and physically ready for the demands of driving.

What activities are Formula 1 drivers banned from doing in their contracts?+

Bottas confirms that F1 driver contracts typically prohibit high-risk activities such as free climbing and scuba diving. These restrictions exist to protect the team's investment and ensure drivers are not sidelined by preventable injuries outside of racing.

How did Valtteri Bottas get into gravel cycling?+

Bottas began using cycling as a conditioning tool roughly twice a week before it gradually became a near-daily training pillar. His enthusiasm for the sport led him to co-found FNLD GRVL and RADL GRVL, two gravel events that reflect his belief in cycling as a serious performance discipline rather than casual cross-training.

How do F1 drivers manage risk when racing bikes during the season?+

Bottas describes a margin-management mindset where he participates in gravel events without taking risks that could threaten his fitness or his driving seat. Knowing when to hold back, particularly on technical descents or in bunch situations, is a calculated decision rather than a sign of lesser commitment to the sport.

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Key Takeaways

Direct, professional feedback without taking things personally is how top teams amplify performance—it works in F1, cycling, and any high-performance environment.

Contract stability removes unnecessary pressure; once you stop fighting for your seat, you can focus on the pressure you create from within to perform.

Cycling serves as both serious conditioning and genuine passion—elite athletes need an activity that trains the body without the mental weight of their primary sport.

Your inner circle should be small and intentional; as your profile rises, learning to distinguish genuine friends from those seeking advantage becomes critical.

Never give up and learn from mistakes are the two foundational values that separate people who reach their goals from those who don't.

Success isn't about being fearless in the car—it's about maintaining the illusion of control and only feeling uncomfortable when you actually lose it.

Expert Quotes

"I would say the biggest thing I got was always taught that never give up because then yeah if you don't try and if you give up along the way then for sure you're not going to achieve your goals."

"When I got to Mercedes I wanted to win immediately, I wanted to beat Lewis immediately and I was really, really hard on myself—too hard on myself. I probably would tell myself to calm down a bit."

"The best pressure is the one from yourself and once you get to the point that you can actually control it, that's ideal. Only pressure that affects me now is only my own one, nothing from the outside."

KEY QUOTES

“before I met Tiffany it was more like once maximum twice a week versus now it's five to seven days a week”
Bottas — Formula 1 driver

“if you want to develop as a team for long term then you need to work together there can't be any hiding of the Telemetry uh if if another driver finds a different line or different way of driving or different things with the settings or setup we we share everything we're actually obliged to share everything but I don't mind doing it because it it amplifies both of our performance in in the weekend but also in long term”
Bottas — Formula 1 driver

“diving is actually banned because it can mess with your if something happens is it going to mess with your inner ear and that way with your balance which obviously you need for driving”
Bottas — Formula 1 driver

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How does Valtteri Bottas fit cycling training into an F1 race weekend schedule?+

What activities are Formula 1 drivers banned from doing in their contracts?+

How did Valtteri Bottas get into gravel cycling?+

How do F1 drivers manage risk when racing bikes during the season?+

F1 INSPIRED TIPS EVERY CYCLIST SHOULD KNOW | BOTTAS

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Meet Valtteri Bottas and the golden mullet

Childhood dream of Formula 1

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Meet Valtteri Bottas and the golden mullet

Childhood dream of Formula 1

Meet Valtteri Bottas and the golden mullet

Childhood dream of Formula 1