Forget Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri, Valtteri Bottas has cemented himself as Finland’s, sorry, Australia’s favourite Formula One driver, following a brilliant new ad.
In his words, Bottas loves ‘the famous Aussie lifestyle,’ including the fashion (long, slick mullets) and the food (piping hot meat pies). But mainly, he loves to drive in Australia.
Put simply, it’s one of the funniest ads we’ve seen in a long, long time. Bottas, whose Australian love affair dates many years back, has teamed up with Uber Carshare to build the perfect Aussie ‘Second’ Car, one primed for the quintessential Australian lifestyle.
What does this vehicle look like? We’ll let the ad explain.
Valtteri Bottas’ x Uber Carshare: Aussie ‘second’ car ad
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Why does Bottas love Australia so much?
Fans of the Finnish Formula One driver will know the former Mercedes number-two driver’s Australian love affair has been going on for many years.
This is due to his relationship with Australian cyclist, Tiffany Cromwell, which began in 2020. Cromwell, from Stirling South Australia, exposed Bottas to Australian culture and the way of life, and he’s never looked back since.
Fans often find when he’s not flinging himself around international racing circuits at 300 km/h or lounging around his home in Monaco, the Fin is often down in Australia, enjoying a relaxed lifestyle away from the glitz and glamour of the French south coast.
There is no greater symbol of his adoption of Australian culture than the mullet he’s donned for the best part of a year now. While it isn’t quite Nedd Brockmann levels in terms of length, Bottas’ bleached blonde mullet, which waves down to the base of his neck, is about as Australian as hairstyles get.
Here at Only Sports, we wonder if it flaps delicately in the wind as he fights for points and podiums for the Stake F1 team.
Amongst other activities, the Fin’s envelopment in Australian culture has seen him visit the Adelaide Central shopping centre, cycle through the South Australian capital’s hills and dive into Australian history at Ratalang Conservation Park.
Why release the ad now?
Well, it’s Australia Grand Prix week. There’s probably no better time to drop it than now, with hundreds of thousands of Australians gearing up for the nation’s premier motorsport weekend.
On top of supporting McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo, who races for Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (formerly AlphaTauri), millions of Aussies nationwide will now be rooting for Bottas when the race begins on Sunday afternoon.
Bottas has had success previously at Melbourne. In 2019, he won the race, beating Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to the checkered flag by 20 seconds. It’s one of ten race wins Bottas has accrued throughout his F1 career, with the 2019 win also making him the fourth Finnish driver to win the Australian Grand Prix after Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen.
