Valtteri Bottas pays Mercedes F1 team's MEGA bill in heartwarming Canadian Grand Prix gesture

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas pays Mercedes F1 team's MEGA bill in heartwarming Canadian Grand Prix gesture

Just when you thought you couldn't love the fun-loving Finn any more.

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Thursday 12 June 2025 21:47

If you wanted yet another reason to love Valtteri Bottas, here it is F1 fans.

It’s fair to say the fun-loving Finn has really started to show his personality in recent years, everything from posing naked in a stream for a charity calendar to his various athletic challenges.

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Gone are the days when he was a stern-faced youngster of few words with Williams and Mercedes, now he’s box office in every possible sense, right down to the golden mullet.

The 35-year-old star - now reserve driver with Mercedes for 2025 - is still very much a paddock mainstay despite not having a regular drive this season.

Despite that, Bottas is keeping his annual race week traditions alive - and that includes a very special one at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Every year Valtteri takes the entire team out for dinner, and on Wednesday night in Montreal that meant footing the bill for more than 100 hungry Silver Arrows staff members to build up a massive meat sweat at a local steakhouse.

Bottas keeps the tradition alive

He revealed: “It’s great to be back in Montreal. Last night I took the whole team for dinner - it’s a tradition I do every year. The whole team, more than 100 people.”

So how much did Valtteri shell out for this culinary extravaganza? We’d be guessing it runs into several thousand dollars, potentially tens of thousands. But like the good guy he is, Bottas isn’t telling.

His answer when pushed, quite simply: “It doesn’t matter, they deserved it.” What a man.

Who eats more? Team or drivers?

Bottas did divulge one secret though - the team definitely eat more than the drivers. He would know, having previously picked up the tab for the annual dinner for the men on the grid.

So there you have it, another reason for us to love VB, and another reason for one lucky team out there to hand him a seat for the 2026 season. It’s all about steak, not Stake.