Valtteri Bottas Interview

DO YOU HAVE A NAME FOR YOUR CAR?

No, I don't tend to give names, I know some drivers do, but I don't.

WHY DO YOU DRIVE F1 CARS?

Because I love racing! I started when I was six and for me it was always my dream to be in Formula 1. For me the best thing is.... They're the best cars around to race and I'm able to race against all the best drivers.

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU CRASHED?

I haven't counted! Quite a few times!! Not that many times in Formula 1 and not big ones. I remember crashes in Formula 3, Formula Renault and Karting at times but I've never hurt myself, actually I've never broken a bone, I've been lucky I guess.

WHICH IS BETTER, BEARD OR MOUSTACHE?

Hmm... Good one... I would say moustache. Do you know Nigel Mansell? NO No? He was a racing driver, he was world champion, he had a nice moustache.

IS IT EXCITING BEING A RACING DRIVER?

It is, really exciting. First of all the racing cars are so quick, so every time you're in the car it is really exciting. Every time before I leave the garage I always realise I'm really lucky to do it. On top of that we are able to meet so many nice new people and travel to different countries and see different cultures. It is really interesting in many ways. We're very busy but everyday is somehow different, it's really cool.

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU WERE OFFERED A PLACE TO DRIVE AT MERCEDES?

I was quite happy!! It took me a little time to realise as everything happened quite quickly last winter. When things started to go in the right direction, I got a call from Toto that it's going to happen... I couldn't stop smiling, I think I smiled two months in a row!! And I'm still happy, of course.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR?

Blue. Always been blue and actually my racing gloves, racing shoes and cap are all blue. I'm from Finland and the Finnish flag has blue and white, Also it's something to remind me of home. What's your favourite colour? GREEN. Green... nice.

ARE YOU ABLE TO DESIGN YOUR HAT, GLOVES AND SHOES? Yes, I get to choose the colours and help with the logos.

WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE RACE TRACK?

Since the first time I raced in Japan, in Suzuka, it became my favourite track. It's really high speed and feels a bit like a roller coaster. It has so many high speed corners, it goes up and it goes down, it really is a lot of fun!!

HOW OLD IS YOUR CAR?

It's not very old, it's less than one year old. As a team we always make a new one each year and they've already started to make the new one which comes out in January/February 2018, so not very old.

WHICH WAS THE WORST F1 CAR YOU DROVE?

Umm..... I have to say the first year I started in Formula 1, five years ago, it was the Williams 2013 car. That was a bit of a handful, it wasn't handling that great, I only managed to get in the top 10 once and that was in Austin. So it was a difficult season for my first season.

HOW FAST DOES YOUR CAR GO?

It goes quite fast! I think the top speed I've done with a Formula 1 car is 370KPM, It's more than 200MPH, so it definitely is very fast!!

DO YOU THINK THE 'SHOEY' IS WEIRD?

YES!! I think it's very weird! I would never drink it, I know how much we sweat so, no thanks!!

WHO IS YOUR BEST F1 FRIEND?

I've made so many good friends, of course from the Williams team I used to race but also with this team already. But I must say my personal trainer Amtti, he travels with me everywhere and we also train together between the races, so I spend more time with him than my wife! He's become a really good friend, we're travel buddies and at the same time he looks after my health.

DO YOU LIKE YOUR TEAM MATE?

Yeah, but he's just a little bit too quick!! He's a nice guy, I didn't know Lewis before joining the team, just had very quick talks with him. During the year I've got to know him better and he's actually a nice guy. We've had good respect both ways all the seasons so it's been nice working with him.

HOW MUCH MONEY IS YOUR CAR WORTH?

I don't even know! They're quite expensive because we have, at the factory, nearly 1000 people building the two cars we race, so that's a lot of time put into it, a lot of engineer work and many mechanics. We have our factory working pretty much 24/7 so.. yeah, it's not cheap. That's why I try not to crash too often!! THEY MIGHT START TO TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR WAGES IF YOU CRASH TOO MUCH! Exactly, yeah!!

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE TO CELEBRATE AFTER A RACE?

You know, the best feeling and the best celebration is always with the team. Once you get back and you've had a good result, fer example, when I had my first win in Russia this year. When you go to the team unit, to the garage and you see all the guys with a smile on everyone's face. We always do this team picture, with all the team and the trophies. For me that's the best way to celebrate the result, together as a team. We've earned it together as a team and every single person in the team, they really deserve the good feeling out of it too, so that's nice.

WHAT COUNTRIES HAVE YOU RACED IN?

I've raced in Finland, I'm from Finland. I've raced in.... The calender is quite long! I think a better question would be where would I like to race! OK...The furthest we go is Australia, it takes 24hrs to get there and at least two planes. Next to it is New Zealand, I've never been, I would like to visit, but it's quite far, so maybe one day.

WHO INSPIRED YOU TO START RACING?

For me it was when I go to try Karting as a kid, I wanted to try. When I managed to do it I was so excited about the sport. I fell in love with the speed and I just wanted to be a driver. There was no one pushing me or anything, just me really. When I was a kid there was a driver from Finland called Mika Hakkinen, he won the titles in 1998 and 1999, he was also a part of it, I was watching his races on TV and that really motivated me.

DO YOU HAVE A BOOSTER IN YOUR CAR TO MAKE YOU GO FASTER AND WHEN YOU GO REALLY FAST, DOES FIRE COME OUT THE BACK?

Sometimes you can see a little fire, especially in the night races when it's dark, you can see it from the exhaust. We do have a boost button, we call it an overtake button. It gives us a bit more power if we overtake and if we want to go faster then we press it.

IN AN F1 BOYBAND, WHICH FOUR OTHER DRIVERS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO GO IN IT WITH YOU?

I would take.... Ricciardo because he likes to have fun, I'm sure he would be enjoying it as well. I would have Kimi, Umm..... then I would have...... I get along really well with Daniil Kvyat, he's a nice guy so I would take him as a friend and then I would take Lewis, he's my team mate and I think with the music business he's quite good.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN BETWEEN RACES?

So it really depends, every week is different. Sometimes I get to go home to Finland, sometimes I spend time at the factory of different kinds of sponsor events and things like this. I came from the last race, in Mexico, to Europe on Monday, now it's Wednesday and I'm here, I'm going to be here again tomorrow, I'm going to be at the factory on Friday to have some meetings with the engineers.

WHAT'S THE BEST THING ABOUT WORKING AT MERCEDES?

Well, everyone here are nice people, the atmosphere is really nice. You can really feel the team spirit and of course winning, we all like winning!! Especially when it comes after hard work, that's what drives us forward. Winning, knowing that you worked hard for it and feel that you deserve it. It makes you want to keep doing it again and again.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DRIVING FOR?

I've been driving for 22 years, I'm 28 now, so quite a long time.

WHY IS YOUR RACE NUMBER 77?

I just like 7, so why not make it double 7?! There's nothing more than that, we got to choose it for the 2014, I just like 7s! It's my lucky number.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE SONG?

I don't have only one favourite song. DO YOU HAVE A HAPPY SONG? ONE YOU LISTEN TO AND IT MAKES YOU FEEL HAPPY? Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication, that's like a good mood song. I also listen to quite a bit of Finnish music, but only people from Finland know it. I listen to it to remind me of home when I'm travelling.

WHAT'S YOUR SHOE SIZE?

41 in Europe, so what's that in UK size?... I'll have a look!! It's 7.5, quite small.

HOW MANY RACES HAVE YOU WON?

In Formula 1, two, hopefully with more to come. If you cheer on at home, I'm sure that will help