Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas skips the Gravel World Championships because he has a 'small' race in Singapore to take care of!

"While others are relaxing on their boats...," Bottas wrote on social media in early August during the Formula 1 season's summer break, after finishing fifth in the UCI Gravel World Series race in Hlinsko, Czech Republic. With that result, he also qualified for the Gravel World Championships, which he had already competed in back in 2024.

Bottas did so in his age group for men between the ages of 35 and 39, so in theory he should be able to compete on Sunday in Nannup, on Australia’s west coast. This year’s Gravel World Championship is being held there, but there’s one small problem: Bottas is scheduled to race in the Formula 1 race in Singapore at that time.

So the Finn won’t be competing at the World Championship, but he did find another exciting challenge to undertakeke on his bike. After last Sunday’s Formula 1 race in Malaysia, he’s covering the slightly more than 350 kilometers to the next Grand Prix in Singapore on a gravel bike. On Monday, Bottas completed the first leg, a 56-kilometer ride.

Incidentally, Bottas's partner is the Canyon//SRAM cyclist Tiffany Cromwell. Cromwell, who is retiring after this season, has already been supported by her partner at events such as the Tour de France Femmes, and the two of them also scout races together.