Valtteri Bottas’ Plight Sheds Light on the Perils of Extreme Weight Cutting in F1

Valtteri Bottas will leave Mercedes at the end of the season to join Alfa Romeo for 2022. He pushed Lewis Hamilton in his title-challenging runs in 2019 and 2020. But he recently stated that his strive for perfection affected his mental health.

Bottas recalled the time in 2014 when he was at Williams, where he decided to cut down his weight and become more physically fit. The Finnish driver mentions that he trained to the extreme to become fitter. But in his quest for perfection, Bottas fell towards more negative thoughts which affected his personal life and mental well-being.

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Valtteri Bottas recalls the darkest time in his life

As reported by Iltalehti. fi, the Mercedes driver mentioned he put more weights on to train at his maximum. He blamed himself and his own stubbornness for his decreasing mental health in 2014.

“There was talk of some flights. An ex-girlfriend (Emilia) told me I hope the flight goes well. I said something that if it falls, then what? Then I’ll just get out of here. Something like these thoughts started to come out that nothing matters.

In the middle of that season, I drifted into a rather bad state of overwork, which was due to my own stubbornness. That’s when we had to keep the weights to a minimum, and it got off to a bit of a glove for me,” said Bottas. [Translated by Google]
Formula One F1 – Spanish Grand Prix – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain – May 8, 2021, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas during the press conference after qualifying in third position FIA/Handout via REUTERS

But Valtteri provided an update and stated his mental health has improved since then.

“I had to go to the scales every morning and night. It always had to look less and less. I got a good feeling about it. I thought it was good for me, but in the long run, it was not,” said the Finnish driver.

Bottas has since become stronger, both mentally and physically. He went toe-to-toe against Hamilton and pushed him to the maximum in qualifying, and outperformed him in a number of races. He can be proud of the fact he helped Mercedes win 4 constructor’s championships in a row.

READ MORE: Who is Valtteri Bottas’ Wife, Emilia Bottas?

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