Valtteri Bottas has opened up about a dark moment in his Formula 1 career, revealing that he starved himself during his time at Williams to alleviate weight concerns with the team's car. The popular Finnish driver, now 36, has returned to the grid this year after a year out with Cadillac, F1's newest team, embarking on his 13th season in the sport.
Early Career Struggles
Bottas began his F1 career with Williams in 2013 before moving to Mercedes in 2017, where he partnered Lewis Hamilton during a period of dominance for the Silver Arrows. He later spent three seasons at Alfa Romeo/Sauber from 2022 to 2024. In a letter for The Players' Tribune released on Wednesday, Bottas detailed his extreme and dangerous approach to improving performance at the start of his second season in 2014.
"OK, now the silly Finnish guy has to get a little bit serious," Bottas wrote. "I won't bore you, don't worry. I am not going to cry here. We don't have to play the dramatic music. But yeah… basically, I started starving myself."
He explained that it began with a simple diet after his rookie season when Williams predicted an overweight car for 2014. With no seat-plus-driver weight minimum at the time, the team suggested he lose five kilograms. "If you put a clear goal like that in front of me, I am going to obsess over it," Bottas said. "When you tell me five kilos in two months, my brain thinks, 'Five? Why not 10? We can make the car even quicker.' So I started eating steamed broccoli and a bit of steamed cauliflower for almost every meal."
Obsessive Behaviour
Bottas described how the weight loss became an all-consuming game. He would weigh himself every morning, feeling deep satisfaction as the number dropped. He would run for 90 minutes, eat a small bowl of steamed vegetables, then run another 90 minutes. He even deceived his coach by removing his GPS watch during second sessions to avoid detection. "The game became completely consuming," he admitted.
Bottas acknowledged that at the time he felt like a "drug addict," but now sees that mentality as "completely delusional." He wrote: "After two months of spiralling, my nerves were shot. I would wake up at 4am on my own, no alarm. My heart would be beating out of my chest." He thought he had extra energy but later realised his body was in starvation mode. "The worst part was that I would look in the mirror and see my silhouette getting slimmer, and I was so satisfied. It was not about racing anymore."
Despite his efforts, the car turned out to be underweight after the break. Bottas also experienced foggy spells and dizziness in crowds, though he felt fine when in the car on the grid.
Turning Point
The turning point came after Jules Bianchi's fatal crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, prompting Bottas to see a psychologist. The psychologist observed that Bottas had no interests outside racing, calling him "almost like a machine." Bottas agreed: "My whole identity was the car."
Now back on the grid with Cadillac, Bottas has 10 grand prix wins and 67 podiums. He will race this weekend at the Miami Grand Prix as F1 returns after a five-week spring break.
