How Valtteri Bottas won F1’s summer shutdown

The Alfa Romeo driver continued to live his best life away from the track

Formula 1 is back this week, with the Dutch Grand Prix. While there are many storylines to follow, such as Max Verstappen’s pursuit of history, we can without question declare which F1 driver won the summer shutdown.

Valtteri Bottas.

The Alfa Romeo driver was in Steamboat Springs over the past weekend, competing in the SBT GRVL. This is a world-class gravel bike race held each year in Colorado. Bottas is no stranger to gravel races, as his girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell is one of the best gravel racers in the world, and the two often compete together on weekends where Bottas is not behind the wheel.

However at SBT GRVL this year Bottas — who along with Cromwell has designed some of the best helmets this F1 season — brought home some honors in one of the events.

Dressed as “Duffman” from The Simpsons.

Bottas competed in the hill climb event at SBT GRVL dressed as Duffman, and according to his social media accounts Duffman won the costume competition:

Bottas also shared an absolutely fantastic video of the event on this Instagram, set to “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by the Crash Test Dummies. You’ll see the F1 driver not only competing in the event, but celebrating with the fans and revving up the crowd on stage:

As Bottas noted in both posts, he took secured a good deal of beer from Denver Beer Company, which he happily shared with spectators and fellow competitors.

While other drivers attended concerts, spent time on boats in crystal blue waters, and traveled around the world, Bottas dressed as Duffman and won a costume competition,

And the entire summer shutdown in the process.