Valtteri Bottas on whiskey, his F1 future, and the ‘joy’ of being a race car driver

SB Nation spoke exclusively with Valtteri Bottas about the 2024 F1 season, the ‘joy’ of being a driver, and WhistlePig

The continued growth of Formula 1 worldwide — as well as in the United States — has been attributed to the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive. Whatever the merits are regarding that argument, one of the aspects of that series that drove the growth of the sport worldwide is the introduction to the drivers themselves. Athletes who are incredible personalities outside of the car, and the best at what they do inside the car.

Among that group of personalities? Valtteri Bottas. The former F1 Grand Prix winner might be enduring a difficult season in 2024, as Kick Sauber still looks for their first point of the campaign, but that has not diminished his shine off the track. Bottas has become one of the most fascinating personalities in the sport, thanks to an incredible social media team at Sauber as well as his own outgoing, humorous side, which has exploded these past few seasons.

Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, SB Nation caught up with the driver over an e-mail exchange to talk about the 2024 season, his F1 future, and his latest venture, a partnership with WhistlePig on a new Rye.

The 2024 Formula 1 season

The exchange began with a look at the 2024 Formula 1 season. Things have been difficult for Sauber this year, as the team is still seeking their first point of the 2024 campaign.

This comes after last year, under the Alfa Romeo brand, the team finished ninth in the F1 Constructors’ Championship with 16 points, Bottas accounting for ten of those.

“It’s obviously been a tough F1 season so far,” explained Bottas. “However, we’re working united as a team as hard as we can to get things sorted and have new leadership within the team and the effects of that will be shown within the coming months. We’re not resting, we’re working to get better.”

Sauber is set to become the Audi works operation in 2026, and some of the new leadership has been installed ahead of that switch. That includes the appointment of Mattia Binotto, formerly the Team Principal at Ferrari, as the new Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer.

However, that is the future. What can Sauber do down the stretch this season?

“The expectation for the rest of the 2024 F1 season is to continue to improve from race to race,” outlined the Sauber driver. “You want to perform at your highest level each race and it is frustrating when you don’t end up with the results that you feel like you may deserve. The team is working hard and you want to get a result to reward that hard work.”

Talking spirits with Valtteri Bottas

The conversation then turned to whiskey. For the second F1 season in a row, WhistlePig is partnering with the team to produce a limited edition whiskey. Last year WhistlePig produced the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake Barrel, a 96.77-proof high rye whiskey selected by Bottas and teammate Zhou Guanyu. In a nod to Zhou’s status as the first Chinese F1 driver, last year’s edition was “finished with lychee and oolong tea.”

This year’s installment, the WhistlePig Piggyback Rye: Stake F1 Team Single Barrel, leans into Bottas’ other venture into spirits, his O/TH gin. This year’s Piggyback Rye is finished in O/TH gin barrels.

“While a somewhat unexpected combo, the Rye and Gin make a strong team,” explained Bottas. “My OΛTH Gin is vacuum-distilled with oats and apple peels, and what flavors go better with those than cinnamon and spice? That’s why WhistlePig has been aging its PiggyBack 100% Rye in barrels seasoned with my OΛTH Gin to blend the finest flavors of New England with the perfect pine-note Finnish.”

Wondering what to expect from this installment? Bottas broke it down for me. “Fans will taste red apple, softer notes of resinous spruce tips, cinnamon, and a subtle florality, like honey-suckle and lavender,” outlined the Sauber driver.

In a moment we will discuss Bottas’ incredible social media presence, but I did pose a question in the spirit of the “Ask Valtteri” series, an ongoing segment on Sauber’s social media channels where the driver answers questions from fans.

How should fans best enjoy this version of WhistlePig?

“There’s no wrong way to enjoy it… is there? But I prefer to sip it after a race in a new wheelspin on an old classic: WhistlePig Highball,” said Bottas. “Fans should drink it slow while I drive fast and enjoy the ryed – see what I did there?

“But sometimes going slow is good, like when it comes to whiskey or gin making. In case there’s any confusion on the difference between the fast vs slow concept, we’ve created my own educational series – ‘Bo Talks’ to break it down.”

Yet more incredible Bottas content. Speaking of which …

Coming out of his shell

While Sauber has struggled on the track this season, one could make the case they have dominated off it. F1 teams have incredible social media operations, and in a sport filled with brilliant and creative minds, Sauber is near the top. Some of the team’s videos this season have been incredible, such as this video of Bottas “protecting” Zhou from water bottles flying toward him:

Or this video from the Italian Grand Prix, where the team found a Bottas lookalike in attendance and made sure he met the driver:

And as you can see, the above Bo Talks is yet another example of this amazing side of the driver.

I asked Bottas about the social media work he has down these past two seasons, including last year’s incredible charity calendar, and the idea that the driver has come out of his shell a bit.

“Obviously, I’m having a lot of fun with it. The calendar was unique to say the least and I’ve gotten plenty of inquiries as to if there will be one for 2025 which gives me a good laugh,” said Bottas. “There are also partnerships like the one with WhistlePig Whiskey where I’m getting to combine my own ventures outside of racing in OΛTH Gin with a brand that I’m excited to partner with and make a unique product.”

Another remarkable bit of content this season from Bottas is this commercial for UberShare ahead of the Australian Grand Prix:

I asked Bottas about filming that advertisement, and how much of the script came from him.

“I loved the UberShare advertisement as it allowed my love of Australia and my personality to show through.

“There might have been a few parts where I might have improvised.”

Valtteri’s F1 future

While fans love seeing Bottas on the track, the question does remain: Will he be on the grid next year? While Sauber confirmed ahead of the Miami Grand Prix that Nico Hülkenberg will be one of their drivers next season, they have not announced who will drive alongside the veteran driver next year.

Bottas is one of a few drivers linked with that second seat at Sauber, but nothing has been finalized yet. I asked Bottas if he had any news to share, or when his faithful followers could anticipate learning his plans.

“I’m still working on it,” said Bottas. “Making some progress, but that’s all I can say right now. Have had good discussions that will continue within the next days. That’s all I can give you. Eventually everything will be fine one way or another.”

However, fans can expect to see Bottas doing some racing soon.

At the upcoming World Gravel Championships.

The driver’s partner, Tiffany Cromwell, is one of the best cyclists on the planet. In recent years Bottas has grown to love the Lycra as well, and he has become an elite gravel cyclist, competing when he is not behind the wheel of an F1 car.

With the way the F1 schedule falls this year, there is a break between races that coincides with the World Gravel Championships, which gives Bottas a chance to compete. One of Bottas’ biggest fans, a reader on Threads, wondered if the schedule would align for Bottas to don the Lycra once more.

“Yes, I think you might see me in Lycra in Belgium, so keep following,” said Bottas. “I’ll be there doing my best and will be enjoying the event because I set a target for myself last year to qualify for the World Gravel Championships in this age group so I will be there to enjoy and give it my best shot.”

The ‘joy’ of being a racecar driver

The conversation wound down with a discussion of Bottas’ actual day-to-day job: Being a race car driver.

Prompted by the great “Dirty Side of the Track” podcast on Threads, I first asked Bottas what kind of track he considers the most demanding: A high-speed, high-power track or something more technically demanding.

The answer? Both.

“All tracks are difficult when you’re competing with the best,” began Bottas. “There are 19 other drivers out there that are some of the best drivers in the entire world. They make no track easy.”

Monaco is certainly a difficult track, as Bottas continued to explain, but then there is the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix, which poses another set of challenges.

“As you mentioned there are tracks like Monaco that are a bit less forgiving and you have to have to be precise at each turn and then there are tracks like Singapore where the temperature can be incredibly hot,” continued Bottas. “All of these situations require mental fortitude to get to the finish line.”

Finally, I ended Bottas with a question I have been asking every driver I have been lucky enough to speak with: What is the hardest part of your job, and what is the one thing you wish I knew about being a race car driver?

His answer was, as expected, perfect.

“There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes, it isn’t just showing up to hop in the car and head out onto the track and drive fast,” said Bottas. You have to train hard physically, which is something that I enjoy a lot and there are countless meetings and strategy sessions and various obligations that you have to fulfill all while your team is working on the car to make sure you’re ready to race each week.

“It is a complex sport and career, but there is a lot of joy.”