Valtteri Bottas says "refreshing" cycling "more fair" than Formula One as you don't need best bike to win

Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas is enjoying life on two wheels — competing in gravel races and currently riding around Montenegro with his partner Tiffany Cromwell, pro cyclist for Canyon-SRAM — the ten-time Grand Prix winner saying cycling is a "more fair" sport as it relies less on having the best tech to win races.

The Finnish driver, who was formerly teammates with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and now drives for Team Kick Sauber, has ridden numerous gravel events, such as the Gralloch up in Scotland, and is a regular uploader to Strava. He has also been spotting supporting Cromwell at races such as the Tour of Flanders, on bottle duty when he isn't racing the Formula One calendar.

Speaking to Pitlane Life Lessons Podcast, Bottas spoke about finding cycling events "refreshing" as there is less need to have the fastest bike to win.

> Bike check: Valtteri Bottas' Canyon Grail CF SLX

"That's why I like cycling, because it's like the opposite," he said. "You, as a human, you are the engine, you are the machine. And yeah, obviously, still, machinery plays a part, but that's why I love doing those events and challenging myself, because I feel like on the start line, pretty much everyone, more or less, they have the same chances to win or do well.

"So for me, that's really refreshing, because, like you mentioned with Formula One, you need the car, you need the team if you want to succeed. It's not a fair sport, that's for sure. So I feel like cycling is definitely sometimes more fair. But I think for me, it's almost like a balancing factor. That's why I like it."

His comments came in reply to the podcast's host, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestly, explaining how he had been told by someone who worked at Jaguar's F1 team, but moved to British Cycling, that "F1 is 90 per cent the car, 10 per cent the driver" whereas cycling "is almost exactly the opposite way around".

> "I'd be careful taking training advice from him": F1 star goes cycling with Lance Armstrong

And while he's less stressed by the need to have the fastest equipment when cycling, he can certainly enjoy owning a rather fast ride... something we spotted at the Monaco Grand Prix when he was interviewed while clutching a then-unreleased Canyon Aeroad. It's not a bad life being an ambassador for Canyon and SRAM in your spare time...

 

 

 

 

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He's also been known to warm up for a big (F1) race by riding to the track, his 30km/h pre-race ride in Melbourne catching the eye of those cycling followers he has on Strava. And Bottas is far from the only driver in the paddock to swap four wheels for two in his spare time, Sebastian Vettel riding a lovely J.Laverack titanium R J.ACK Disc Race II Ultegra Di2, while Carlos Sainz recently joined Tadej Pogačar for a training spin in the hills around Monaco.