Valtteri Bottas claims first PODIUM of 2023 despite weekend away from F1

Bottas in Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

Valtteri Bottas

Bottas back on track after claiming first PODIUM of 2023

The Finn got his first taste of champagne in 2023 thanks to a race in his home country

Joe Ellis

Saturday 10 June 2023 22:57

Valtteri Bottas has claimed his first podium of 2023 even though F1 is not racing this weekend.

The Alfa Romeo driver decided to use his weekend off, after the Monaco-Spain double header, to take part in a native 77km bike race he founded with his partner, Tiffany Cromwell, in Lahti, Finland.

Bottas completed the gruelling course over mostly gravel in two hours and 36 minutes, beating Emily Shields, the leading female rider, by 10 seconds for the final spot on the overall podium.

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Cromwell, a world-class rider, rode in the 177km race although Bottas opted to save some energy for next weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

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Keen cyclist

Bottas is often posting on social media his latest escapades on two-wheels and even went as far as to enter a race in Scotland on the weekend when F1 should have been in Imola.

The floods in Emilia Romagna forced the race to be cancelled and so Bottas hot-footed it to the UK to get his racing fix.

After 151km of the 177km in Cromwell's race, she had built a lead of nearly four minutes in the female category which put her 31st overall at that stage out of 427. Bottas' race included 185 entries with Jani Heikkenen taking the win.

The 40km stage was also run at the same time with Quentin Valognes winning. He came across the line right behind Bottas.