Valtteri Bottas is a former GP3 Champion, a winner of 10 Formula One races and one of the most recognisable members of the Grand Prix paddock. He’s also a passionate cycling fan, a co-founder of FNLD GRVL and RADL GRVL, a top 20 finisher at steamboat gravel’s blue course and a partner of Canyon Sram’s Tiffany Cromwell.
Here he reveals where he sees his future on two wheels and four… as well as his shared love of mullets with Jensie!
Bobby and Jens is a Shocked Giraffe production for Velo. This episode was produced and edited by Mark Payne .
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Hello everyone and Merry Christmas this is our Christmas edition of Bobby and Yen and as we have done the last couple years we try to get a guest that isn’t necessarily in the world of cycling as much as most of our guests but still has an amazing passion for the sport Our
Guest today is the fastest guest we have ever had on the podcast he has traveled over 378 km an hour which is basically 235 m hour in an F1 car but is still yet to break 100 kilometers an hour or 62 miles per hour on a bike yenzi who’s our
Guest today today’s guest of Bobby and yans is valter BAS from Finland Formula 1 driver and a very passionate C list not very often do we get a talk to somebody that has gone that fast but we did ask him towards the end of what he
Wanted Santa to bring him and put under the Christmas tree so I’m going to ask you that same question yens what is Santa bringing you this year or what do you want to be under that tree well the tree is up decorated looking good um my wife uh actually
Managed to build up the Mont Everest out of presence in the basement of my house I don’t know how she does it but she builds up a pile 8.8 kilm High of presentence in my house so there’s enough for everyone there what would I wish for 2024
H well I guess I guess I guess I guess more time more time that would be good more time where I can just chill and do things I like to do nice nice you know what I’m looking for this year which I never thought I’d
Say because I’ve been one of the I think one of the only hold out out in this technology is I think it’s time to move over to Disc break bikes disc Brak breaks Disc break disc breakes that is a big step my friend I can almost hear the angels ringing their
Little bells up there going whoa we actually convinced the another one to go to disc breakes you will enjoy them not the squeaking noise but you will enjoy them when you brand new because they break so nice so sit back relax and enjoy our conversation with vry
Botas all right welcome valter botas to Bobby and Yen thanks for having me man I tell you this is this is going to be a blast um we’re obviously a cycling Centric podcast and you’re a longtime world famous Formula 1 driver but it’s been your passion for biking and cycling
That really motivated us to get you on to the podcast so thank you so much for coming on um where are you actually right now it looks like you’re um somewhere nice and sunny at least yes I’m in Newport Beach California um we’ve been here actually
For bit more than a week now uh Tiffany’s team they had a training camp here um around this time and uh I decided I’m I’ll come here as well and do some nice writing so I take it then that your first job this season is done and now you have a
Little bit of off time time to more time to spend on the bike is that correct yeah that’s that’s right so obviously for one is the main thing for me but uh yeah close second is is riding my bike so whenever I have a chance when
I ever have time I try to get some good training blocks and then yeah next year for sure again we’ll do some some gravel events so yeah this time of the year is is for the bicycle wow uh you know I lived in in n France for 17 years and we
Saw a lot of Formula 1 drivers and Moto GP Riders riding bikes on the coor because I mean the roads are for me the best some of the best roads in in the world but what actually Drew you into cycling in the first place for me already as a kid in in
Finland it was way to commute to the school so it was like bit more than three kilometer Route One Way um to go to school um and always like meeting friends with bikes you know playing around so it was always kind of part of my life and also when I finally started
Like systematically trained for um racing cars um always doing some cardio as part of it so I did some cycling I would say before I met Tiffany um my partner who’s a professional cyclist I will probably be riding my bike once or maximum twice twice in a week uh but
That did change eventually then uh so few years ago when we met I got just much more of an insight to the sport you know in in all aspects um and yeah one motivation for for me for sure was trying to keep up with her so I had to
Do some writing if we wanted to ride together um so now it’s really it has become you know how it goes with bikes and once you feel that you’re improving you know your your standard Hills doesn’t start to feel heals anymore you know you you get faster you get stronger
It’s just quite addictive you know and also with bikes consistency is the key in training so that gives me on my bike because I want to keep that good good form and and good level you started early with um car driving or Motorsports with cting the bike did you ever as a
Kid have time to try other sports like scanny or like you from Finland so how’s your skiing uh do you play Ice Hockey you tried any of that before yeah I did you know it’s Sports in schools in Finland is really popular and it’s nice thing that we can have summer sports but
Also good winter sports so actually for me my like I would say second favorite sport after racing carts was ice hockey so every winter when obviously all the good go-kart tracks were covered by snow uh to do other sports so ice hockey was always the thing so I played about 10
Years every winter and um and also yeah cross skiing everything that’s normal education for for a kid in Finland so yeah those were probably the biggest things I did I did Tred football also as a kid but then that was taking my time away from carting so that was a noo
So well I I have to ask this question because here in America American football is huge and I’m a huge Denver Broncos fan um and I knew that back in the day we had this this very famous quarterback called John Elway and he wasn’t allowed to ski
And he lived in Colorado and I mean let’s face it Formula 1 is a is a dangerous sport but the cars and Equipment have adapted to protect the the drivers you know quite massively over the last you know decade or so but outside of the helmet in cycling there’s
Very little else as far as protection goes do you have any thing in your contract that limits the amount of time that you can spend on the bike or the the racing that you you do or are they just totally happy with you staying fit thank God no there’s no
Limitations um I think it’s it’s fine as long as I don’t break myself up during the season you know so obviously I I do need to have Sometimes some extra caution and if I do gravel racing then yeah try to try to be Sensi you know not
Not trying to be be the hero in certain corners or situations and obviously there’s always the element of not always everything is in your hands you know things can happen but uh the team is I think they see how much I love it how important for me it is for Fitness but
Also for me I’ve explained that it’s also mentally really really nice thing for me to do and kind of escape the F1 world a bit sometimes and uh yeah have other other things to do so they they’ve been actually supportive of it and uh also like with my partnership with with
Cany and and and Sham the team is aware of those so then you know they can’t anymore bail out let’s say so so um in in cycling um cycling for you is it freedom is it for your mental stability is it building up Fitness for
Your job or all of it or is it just pure fun to be out there I think it’s everything that you just explained like for me it’s definitely Freedom like especially when I travel and I mostly travel even to the to the races F1 races with with my bike
So I can actually see a lot like um if I have a day off before things start is great way to explore and and see places um and with bike you know you are the master you can you can decide where where you’re going to go so that’s
That’s kind of cool aspect it’s fun especially grael Rising is is great good fun um and that Fitness aspect of it for sure like it definitely gives me fit and gives me good good endurance and also mentally I feel like it’s for me it’s a great way because
Form one world can be really really hectic like when we have back to back races or triple headers even one single ride between those kind of hectic weeks and days can really reset your mind and and um you know get your feet back on the on the ground again and understand
The big picture of the world you know so it’s it’s all of those for me so we we all know that you guys basically have a traveling circus of massive amounts of equipment so do you just Chuck a biker to in each truck or how many bikes you actually travel with
When you go to different parts of the world so in Europe um it’s easy because I in all the European races I stay in like a m home normally as close to the track as possible so I have a bike there so all the Europeans I’m sorted but then
It’s the Flyway so I normally travel with um with my bike one one single bike with a bike bag so yes there has been cases that sometimes you know bikes do get lost but uh I’ve been I think quite lucky this year so 99% of the time I’ve
Got my got my bike U there’s only a couple of races that I don’t take the bike which is also kind of tiffan is offseason so that’s normally around Mexico Brazil area which anyway like in the middle of Mexico City riding wouldn’t be that great um and same in sa
Paulo it’s a huge City so um yeah those two places I I I also get my break um of of the bike so now um for normal people a bike is a fairly precious and expensive piece of equipment I mean of course it’s probably a tenth of the price of your
Car but do you pay your own bike or you go to the mechanic hey if you can make this $200 million car ready to travel you can also take care of my bike or you pack it yourself I I I do pack it myself so um
I’ve I’ve learned in the last few years quite quite a bit about bikes and how how they work and yeah I don’t mind packing it myself so um but yeah uh you know I’ve been lucky that uh all the stuff I do do with Canyon and and with
Stram any events that we we do do like gravel events there’s always great support like yeah if there’s bit of uh squeaking or or noise in the gearing or whatever there’s always you know support from those so then then I’m happy to hand it to the professionals and when it
Comes to bike builds then I let the professionals to to do it but uh fine adj adjustments or small fixes I can do so and in your cycling training um I think Tiffany said that she helps coach you um is is Tiffany your coach and and
If so are you kind of like a a numbers guy because we know that Formula 1 is endless data streams and constantly looking at numbers and stuff but how is that how are how are you taking your your cycling part of it yeah you know I’ve been actually many
Times I’m I’m still sometimes thinking about it like should I have a very specific training program for cycling and should I have a separate professional cycling coach but I still haven’t made the decision because I’m I’m scared that that takes that freedom aspect out of it and maybe slightly the
The fun out of it because I’ve had some friends that yeah they had like a training block with just yeah full on program following everything you know for every single what every single minute but uh for now i’ I’ve decided to kind of yeah take the guidance from
Different issues got obviously lots of experience from long time working with different coaches um she knows what works for her I’ve kind of also figured out what works for me so I I still freestyle a bit with the training and go go quite a bit with the feeling and
Especially in season time is the limitation for me and and also the recovery so I need to kind of listen to my body and uh do what I feel like I need to do so for now I’ve been yeah you could say Tiffany is my coach um but myself as
Well do you or when did you recently have a moment where Tiffany is just rolling her eyes and going I told you like check the tires or put some oil on the chain or in terms of clothes maybe she told you hey get your gloves on it’s
Going to be cold you n it’s not cold you have Still Moments where Tiffany goes I told you not to do this um yeah there’s been some very recently um probably something to do with gloves because she always joked that I have precious hands that my fingers get very cold
Easily um so yeah then if I complain that hand pants are freezing then she’s like yeah where’s your gloves I have gloves should have listened to me right like a good like a good partner you should have listened to me before yeah yeah you know things like that um or not
Having a best when you go up to Mountain and then you know it’s going to be cold coming down so stuff like that there’s always something but um I’m getting better at yeah there’s less and less things that she can roll eyes on me so I’m curious is there anything that
You’ve learned from cycling that you’ve brought over with you to to F1 I mean two totally different sports but just curious if there’s anything that you learned in cycling that that you’ve kind of brought over to to the track um probably well what I’ve seen very close by like how top level endurance
Athletes how they live you know how they train and I’ve actually um learned how much a human body can actually take you know if you do the training right and in the right zones um you can actually take your body quite a bit further than than you think
In in training or or in in racing if you if you’re tough mentally so I for sure come up with from cycling I’ve definitely gained lots of endurance so you know in the more physical demanding races which are like example super hot super humid I know that I I
Might have an upper hand to most of the competition if if not all of them with with the endurance so probably the endurance side is something I take but um then also I think the teamwork side is is same but different because in formal one you know we we do work
Together with a teammate but also we are you know racing against and sometimes even for for the seat you know so that’s different in cycling because in cycling they are proper proper teammates they’re really working together so um that’s something that’s um quite inspiring many times when you see how the team works
And and I try to use that some as an example that yeah example in in my aone race if I ended up for some reasons on a wrong strategy or something and I have no chance to get to the points then I might as well try and do the best I can
For my teammate because I feel like eventually that is going to come back and that’s actually how it has worked with me and my my teammate Joe that there’s been events that yeah I’ve ended up helping him you know whether it comes to strategy or something and and then
Vice versa when he’s s seeing that okay he’s got no chance anymore then he’s all in trying to help me so that kind of things probably have taken from uh from the cycling world and I believe there’s a few other F1 Pilots they they use their their
Bikes um Alonzo or Charles L Clair I believe you ever go riding together with them or you share tips about training routes or where to go or you go now I race against you tomorrow I don’t want to see your face today or how how’s that going um I haven’t actually been riding
With any other drivers because you know yeah some people live in in Monaco but then also there’s people who live elsewhere everyone is in different schedules especially and also the race weekends everyone has their own own team commitments so it’s hard to really find the time honestly that’s the issue but I
I’ve had had some chats about by cycling yeah with Fernando for sure he used to be really big cycling now a little bit less since his um accident couple of years ago he broke his jaw so I think he’s taking a bit easier on the bike uh and also Lance stroll he’s um
He’s quite into writing um bit more mountain biking maybe but sometimes on on the road so we do have some chats but yeah no no group rids yet in in that community that would be pretty cool seeing you guys out there doing laps around the circuit are you actually I’ve
Seen a little bit of this but have they frowned upon you guys actually riding bikes during you know on the circuit like uh during during Recon are you guys allowed to do that still we we are allowed it’s only they changed the rule that there’s one specific slot normally on Thursday
Morning for like track walks only so that means that yeah you’re only allowed to be walking the track because there might be some service cars and stuff like that still going on so they want to avoid anything Speedy on track but then always Thursday night the track is free
To ride so that’s normally my my Recon time is get a get a few laps in and so on a bike you go down the track at let’s say 30 40 maybe on a downhill 50 60 kilm an hour what was personal interest and for our listeners
What was the highest speed you ever hit in any sort of car uh F1 car that was in Mexico quite a few years ago it was 370 I might need to Google 370 376 or something like this I I believe it’s still it should be a world
Record so I believe that too yeah with an iPhone car and and what about on the bicycle how fast have you ever gone on a bicycle have you ever with checked that with bike I still have haven’t cracked 100 kph yet I’ve been just under few times I’ve been 90 something so um
That’s still on the list so when I see the hill if the wind is right I always go for it so but I might need to do it in altitude obviously there’s thinner air so you can get to higher speeds but hopefully this um cycling season I’ll crack 100
Kph so that that’s a goal then 100 did Tiffany correct the 100 your partner did she correct the 100 you ever talked about that she haven’t so I want to be the first one I think she she’s been also just like under so yeah game is I
I I raced professionally for what 17 years 16 17 years and there was only I’d say twice in my whole career that I went over 100 and most of that was like you know 60 70 80 after 80 you can start to feel it and then you look down and
You’re going 90 95 and you crack that 100 mile uh kilometer per hour barrier and it was just instant put on the brakes like I do not need to be going this fast period and it’s fun Rim breakes yes yes yes I’m still on rim
Brakes by the way don’t make fun of me but uh soon soon I’ll be converting over to the uh the old Disc break but being old school and whatnot but yeah it’s funny fun how that that changes like now once I get over like 60k an hour I’m
Already like hitting the braks as if it was 100K an hour so I think it’s just you know getting getting older and stuff but you know so you maybe you uh yeah yeah maybe a combination of the two but you know talking about some of these gravel events that you did uh that
You’ve done you did the steamboat gravel this year and finished in the in the top 20 how serious do you take these events that you do in terms of personal results are you there to participate or are you there to like absolutely go to your maximum yeah so steambot I did the the
Blue course which is not the the full full for me crazy distance the black course but blue was still solid it was 160 kilometers um a decent route um so for that that race I was actually very happy to be like top top 20 was was uh was
Really good for me and yes I do take them seriously like it’s just natural like if I have a goal um if I enter a race it’s automatic that uh something happens in the brain and yeah it’s it is I’m gonna going to be always going out there challenging myself and trying to
Make most out of it whether it’s result whether it’s um tactically or whether it’s average speed yeah I I try to go go all in um and I don’t mind hurting myself like uh I kind of like it so um yeah I I do enjoy it but then like I did
The gravel Europeans in in an age group and that was I went to slightly unknown territory and it actually felt more like a spring classic race instead of Grabber race so that that had I did have a bit more open mind get going into it but I finished somewhere in like Midfield and
I was riding around the midfield for for the most of the race so that that was um interesting experience but like there’s few events that yeah have for sure like example rattle gravel that we’re organizing with Tiffany as well and with um Amy from spbt um that’s one in January then
Finland gravel which is June 15th which we are part of as well and then hopefully spt as well so um those three at least I’m I’m going to try and have a have a good result and actually sorry I can I can reveal you that I I try to I will try to
Qualify for the gravel worlds next year so that’s my goal to qualify for wow that is so cool we actually had all three of your team in the podcast we had a Tiffany we had Amy and now you and Amy um asked me hey if you have time and you
Can plan it maybe I see you in June in Finland that would be nice I never been in Finland and I really would love to see it so maybe we have a chance to write together be gentle with me because I’m twice as old as you and I’m retired my friend
Okay no you would love it that that course is amazing it’s like really really nice gravel um yeah beautiful we views and the event itself is going to be even bigger and better than the than the first one but Amy told us that down in rattle gravel in Adelaide there that it’s
Actually going on during during the um the the the tour down under down under right yeah how close where is it in your season where you’ll just happen to be um down there in Adelaide are you is that close to a a Grand Prix no so actually it’s in January um
Around mid January so that I’m going to be there anyway still so we are going to Australia for Christmas and Tiffany is from Adelaide so it works works perfectly because yeah I’m I’m there anyway just before finishing off my holidays let’s say or cycling season um so yeah that’s that’s the plan
So it’s it’s a great timing for that and actually what makes you more nervous what feels more sketchy riding let’s say 50 kilm an hour with 200 unknown cyclist around you or being in your car and doing 300 kilm an hour what makes you more nervous that’s a good question um most
Likely still on a bike in that kind of situation because I know that I don’t want to you know hurt myself because that would be probably the last cycling race I would I would do um I’m sure the team would you know tell me off if I would break a bone
Let’s say um so yeah probably also the element that on a bike you really don’t have any protection apart from your your helmet and your 1 mm Lyra on your skin which really doesn’t do much so yeah that’s the difference so and also still cycling is still more unknown sport for
Me than driving a race car so um but yeah normally as long as I’m in control I’m fine but uh if I feel like I’m not control of the situation whether it’s about the bunch or some sketchy Rider then I do get more more nervous on a
Bike well like I said before I lived in N for a long time and I never even went to the Monaco Grand Prix it wasn’t that you know I don’t want to go all the way down to Monaco for that and uh but obviously during the pandemic at least
Over here in America everyone was exposed to the Netflix series drive to drive to survive um that educated us on what you guys do but I’m more interested on the stressors that R driving the car that fast actually do to your body um back in the day Tony ringer was a a very
Famous cyclist that lived in Monaco and was friends with all the Formula 1 drivers down there and he told me that your guys’ heart rate is super high throughout the whole entire um Formula 1 grand prix do you guys actually wear like wearables and and and
Track your heart rate and if so like what what are like your average heart rate during the entire event yeah it really depends of the of the race you know it’s um there’s elements of the track layout how physical it is normally the more there is like highs speeded Corners The More
Physical it is for your body because that generates more G forces um then there’s the heat the heat is a big thing because in the in the in the monoco in the car itself it’s a lot hotter than the ambient temp because you have certain electronical boxes around the
Car if there’s a car ahead of you you have to heat from that engine you have to heat from your own brakes surrounding you so there’s quite a bit of stuff that creates a heat soak in the in the low speed stuff so it’s combination of Heat
And the track but the most physical traces races um example gatar this year was extreme heat humidity and the track is physical so I would have been pretty close to my threshold uh all through the race um that’s how it felt but we don’t actually have variables because they are banded
There’s anything that has plastic or something that is not fully fully fireproof we can’t wear them so there’s been still no sensor for us that we can gather data uh that is allowed so that’s controlled by the FIA so um but I have pretty good feeling on on my heart rate
And on my body so some races I would say say um the easier ones could be as low as maybe 130 average heart rate but then the tough ones can be up to one 170 so it just depends on the conditions I would have like a a double
Question on that a how do you train for that for this two hours intense Allin moments um do you have like a heater in your gym to make you sweat more to make your body better adapted to the Heat and second part of the question do you feel
That with all the riding the endurance you build up your heart rate average lowers by five to 10 beats per race do you any experience of that yeah so how do we train for it it’s obviously of the most hours I I train is
Is with with a bike so in the end having a good endurance having good cardio system in your body it it does give you an edge you know especially as the race goes on and on and the better um you know your V2 Max your Fitness is you can
Also then deal with the Heat versus somebody who’s already beyond the threshold you know on their their endurance and that’s going to hurt way more um I think I’m lucky that all my life I’ve been exposed to SAS so that’s pretty big part of Finnish culture so SAA is a is a natural
Thing for me and I I feel like I’ve always been good with the eat like I do sweat a lot but that’s actually a good thing because that means your your body is really trying to cool down so I don’t I don’t really mind the heat um and yeah
Heat training itself yeah sauna is the is the one for me but in the end is all about hydration and and Pure Fitness and pure endurance and about the bike yes I I definitely feel like my overall endurance has improved and that way my heart rate is probably now lower in the
Car than it was let’s say five years ago so I I do feel like um yeah I can be a bit more um efficient let’s say with my with my body well I think pretty much every one of our guests that comes on it it this
Topic comes up of of fueling and you know fueling for a bike ride is is has changed as Tiffany probably has has schooled you on like there’s a lot more consumption of of carbohydrate than than ever before for but when you’re in that car and it’s hot and you’re
Sweating do you guys actually fuel during the event and if so like are you putting in some sort of glucose carbohydrate mixture in into those into your into your drinks yeah so we do have a drink system in the car uh every team has their own solution
But we have a system that is maximum capacity that we can carry is 135 lit and it’s basically a drinks pipe that you kind of need to need to need to suck to get the the fluids out so it’s um it’s always attached in the helmet so
You can always access it um so before the race I tried again depends on the conditions completely uh Before the Race normally I I I do have certain routine of of fueling in terms of the F food and and fluid um electrolytes and then in the car um
I’ve actually pretty much settled into I use Morton uh drinks so I have the Morton carb drink in in my car and depending how physical it is going to be I try to adjust a bit the the strength whether it’s the the is it 321 which is like rocket
Fuel or the 160 which is um bit more normal let’s say but I feel like it’s it’s really good for the stomach and in the car obviously that that helps so that’s been my my solution for for the last year and seems to work well and I believe you got to be
Permanently multitasking in the car right controlling like looking forward controlling the race course shifting gears checking the wear of the tire checking the wear of the brakes and so on does your box tell you hey valter have a little drink you on a straight line you got two seconds to drink or you
Remember that automatically or all of that comes from your team because they sitting in the air conditioned cool room and they can control things a little better than you in your hot little cockpit right they don’t they don’t need to remind it goes automatically like I I
Think very earlier in my career I did have you know on the pit boards they would every 10 10 laps they would put a sign drink just as a reminder if I didn’t but now it is automatic and uh also the cars they’re getting actually a bit hotter nowadays than the that what
They used to be because there’s less air flow going into the car so you also feel like you you want to drink so but the key in the car with obviously so many g-forces your stomach is turning around is to have like tiny Zips pretty much every lap so normally on the longest
Straight of the of the track I have like like a tiny mouthful every single lap that’s the way to do it because if you try to drink too much too too quickly it’s kind of hard to digest because of the g-forces and bmps and everything you know
So what are what are your physical Sensations after a Grand Prix I mean is it physical exhaustion mental exhaustion like that eyeball sort of headache from the concentration the whole time and is that at all similar to what you feel like when you finish a gravel race there are there are some
Similarities in terms of how how you feel obviously some like I mentioned some F1 races are less or more physical than the others depending the conditions and the track um but the tough ones you feel yeah pretty pretty wrecked and uh quite often the hot ones yeah you feel
Like you’re you’re just overheating you’re almost starting to cook from inside that’s the that’s the feeling um because the issue is the the fireproof clothing we wear we have this under layer and then the overall and then The Baklava and then the helmet um with minimal air flow into the car so that’s
Probably sometimes the toughest part and you just want to cool down with an ice bath or or something um but yeah you can definitely example the the gravel race in Steamboat you can go into pretty deep places on a bike you know when you when you push yourself and that was also a
Hot day in in Steamboat in altitude uh the last hour I was cramping I found muscles that I didn’t know can cramp so I feel like on a bicycle you can definitely in the end you can hurt yourself more because you are the engine
You know in in the car we do have an engine um to to help us so um last year you did grow a mullet right and it was kind of like a fan favorite is the mullet going to have a comeback with you and the reason why I
Ask and I smile um when I met my wife young kid I had a fullon mallet like picture book Mallet and my wife liked me with the Mallet so you know I always like people they are in the same boat with me so is your Mallet gonna have a
Comeback it’s kind of there it’s I need a bit of a trim but but the style is there you know so um yeah for now Still rocking rocking the Mallet for for next year but also with with me I don’t know you never know what’s next but but uh
For now Madan mustache I kind of like so no big plans on that that to change anything so do you have any pictures of you and yens I’m quite curious to see your palet um I should maybe somewhere on the phone I look like a German Bundesliga soccer
Player but you know cyclists complain and work around having to go from say North America to Europe or Europe to North America and everyone complains about jet lag but I mean looking at your series of races and the parts of the world that you go to um I was paying
Specific attention to when you guys did the Grand Prix in Las Vegas and then like a week later you were in Abu Dhabi what are your tricks about getting over jet lag because obviously you have to deal with it a heck of a lot more than most cyclists do
Yeah it’s we we travel a lot and it is sometimes quite extreme like that the last part of the season it’s yeah from yeah actually it was like 12-hour time difference from Vegas to Abu Dhabi plus the Vegas race was like a night race so it it actually felt like even more and
You could see from all the team members that yeah they are starting to struggle um there starts to be more illnesses within the teams you know people are getting easier sick because re tired so it is tough and sometimes there is no magic bullet or the magic trick again I
Feel like your overall level of Fitness it can help you to go go further and even with the jetl it can help if you are in a in a good shape um but then otherwise the key for me always been go to the location as early as you can like
Sometimes it’s not possible with the with the commitments but in the end end is I feel like it’s it’s time that that cures it and the worst case is coffee so getting to for me just getting to those daily routines as quickly as possible from the first day you know wake up when
You when you have to have your coffee when you normally have have it so your body knows it’s supposed to be morning and same with the eating routine and exercise I feel like exercise like light to moderate exercise can be pretty good cure of jetl
Um but it’s also easy to overdo it like if you arrive to a location you feel like yeah you want to go for a big ride immediately it’s probably not always the best solution maybe it’s better to have like a recovery ride first and then check next day how you feel so those
Kind of things but um it it still come comes and goes in in different ways sometimes I have zero issues at all and sometimes I feel like yeah I’m actually starting to be a tirant so I don’t think humans are just made to be traveling that fast I think there’s no
Real solution is correct yep I couldn’t agree more a question always like in my mind so you you did your 376 kilm an hour in in Mexico I believe it was right in a car that um weighs 600 kilograms and does 850 horsepowers and then you finish the race you shower and
Then you get in your rental car drive back to Hotel how does that feel from almost beinging 400 km an hour to go to a car with a 1.2 L engine driving yourself to the hotel not sitting in the center of the car anymore but sitting on a like
Double seater in the front how does that feel after a race like that it you definitely after a race immediately you have bit of sensation of um what’s the word like um speed blind that yes relative to what you just experienced Everything feels slow and you feel like
You’re I or or that you’re more aware I think your your eyes and brain does kind of get used to the speed and then when you go slower again it does feel extremely slow but that’s normal already you know it’s and for me being in a road
Car versus being in a race car it’s is also for my brain is two separate things it’s I can’t really relate driving a road car to driving an F1 car on track for me it’s just different worlds you know but uh but that is right there is the sensation
Of being very slow after an1 race more to that point do do you guys get a lot of uh speeding tickets nope actually I haven’t had that many in my whole life um I did have a couple when I was 18 which meant it was
On my first year of my license and I did lose the license for a month because of that but actually I did get one earlier this year and I think that’s about it I haven’t really had much otherwise so CU I I just Envision you know like yens and
I we go and do Grand fondos and we’re retired and happily retired and these people kind of come up to us and try to race us and every once in a while our competitive juices will fire up a little bit and we’ll kind of give it some stick
And then you’re just like no no no this is crazy do people like pull up to you at a stoplight or you know recognize you and then just kind of you know gun it and and try to race you when you’re out on open roads it it actually doesn’t happen a
Lot but there’s been few times it has happened yeah they notice me and then they’re like I think they get to their own F1 world and they start focusing on the start lights like it’s a F1 R start you know but normally I’ll let them go and let
Them be happy maybe it makes their day or a week so but like I said it comes back to driving on a road with a normal traffic it’s just it’s just separate completely separate thing for me than than Rising on a track so and
Um if you could ever go back and You’ be 10 years old again and somebody would tell you hey you could either become a Formula One Rider or a cyclist and maybe win the Tour what would you choose actually would you rather win the Tour to FRS or would you
Rather become Formula 1 World Champion or you go nah you cannot compare this that’s a very good question I mean um I for me racing was always the number one thing as a kid like yeah I would I wouldn’t change anything I would I would tell myself that keep doing what you’re
Doing you done pretty well and um yeah I mean and I actually then if I look at the big picture of both of both of the worlds yes for sure with both worlds you need to make huge sacrifices but imagine the training hours and the physical pain
Of a tour to France winner what they have to go through so maybe I stick with a car still well that you know that makes me think you know you’re you’re this world famous Formula 1 driver well respected and known all over the world um but who
Do you look up to or respect in the world of cycling other than Tiffany your your girlfriend um of course you know all the the winners it’s I do like example to the France I I do watch all the highlights um yeah the the battle last
Year was pretty epic for the wi between pacher and vard so that was really good to watch and you know those two names probably are up on my Leist but then also there’s like many really talented gravel races I’ve got to known um I have huge respect for the gravel Riders
Nowadays because the races are actually brutal like the races can be very long and almost like ultra distance and I’ve seen them on the Finish Line how they look like after those big events and yeah like um yeah it is impressive so there’s always always few that I follow especially whoever rites for
Canyon I I tend to follow more so um yeah it’s cool so you already told us that you might want to try to qualify for the World Championships gravel next year I yeah what else is in the cards how much longer you want to do Formula 1 you
Keep an eye on the Indie Car Series maybe or you want to go r driving or go hey no I’m just going to have another 10 years as a like pro cyclist what’s the future what’s in the cards for you in the future um I still love formal one I love
Racing in in formal one and I still have goals in in that sport like actually the previous season in in formal one made me quite quite um I don’t know frustrated it’s maybe not the right word but almost like like um it was motivating year for me that I
Really want to get back closer to the front because I really hate battling at the back if the car is not there so now the motivation with the with the team is to try and try and get out out from from let’s say the back or the Midfield and
Get closer to the front and that’s the motivation now I want to be back on the podium so I feel like I still have quite a few years in in form one um there’s many there’s particular alono he’s quite a lot older than me so the age is not an
Issue yet and for me the motivation either so yeah for more one is still for the next few years ahead for sure number one thing but yeah then cycling is always going to be there and uh eventually one day I’ll have more more time to ride my bike and it could be a
Bit late to start a professional career but um I I’ll keep challenging myself and uh for sure doing more and more gravel events uh um but then racing cars after F1 the beautiful thing is that there should be many options like once you’ve been in Formula One long time uh
Won some races you should have good opportunities um in other categories and for me it’s still that’s that world is like wide open you know it could be Indie Car it could be super cars in Australia it could be rally it could be whatever but
The main thing is that I need to keep following my my passion and at that moment do what I feel like I want to do I think that’s big goal in life for me that to be able to really follow things that I want to do and what I have passion
For well if you couldn’t tell by my my sweater it’s it’s Christmas what would you want to have Santa bring under the tree in the 2024 season for you on the on the track on the circuit H Santa could could bring me a significantly faster Formula One race
Car than what I had in the previous year and actually like with the development path what I’ve seen for next year everything actually looks positive um like we as a team we got many new people in the team from from different teams to different roles and I feel like the the
Philosophy with a new car is quite different and it’s different kind of concept so I’m actually optimistic that hopefully Santa will bring me a faster race car which means better results which means more fun F we leave you in peace now to get ready for Christmas um it was an
Absolute pleasure and honor to have you as our guest thanks a million for giving us the time talk to us it was fantastic and we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy year 2024 thank you you for having me and uh likewise everyone have a great great
Holidays um and great New Year whatever the goals are keep it up well that’s all our time for this week huge thanks to valter for being our guest thanks for listening please don’t forget to give us a fstar review and share us with your friends the show was
A Val production in association with shocked giraff this episode was produced and edited by Mark pay remember to check out the video version of this podcast by heading to the outside watch YouTube channel get in touch with us on Twitter Instagram TRS and Facebook just head to
At Bobby and yens and give us a follow this week we want to know what’s the fastest speed you have ever been on a bike