Valtteri Bottas Is On Top Form In This Surprisingly Good Advert

In an advert for a car-sharing service in Australia, the Sauber driver waxes lyrical about Aussie culture

20 Mar 2024

Valtteri Bottas in an advert with 'his' Ute

Adverts involving Formula 1 drivers are frequently terrible. Either annoying, cringeworthy (Damon Hill and Murray Walker advertising Pizza Hut, anyone?) or a mix of both, there have been some shockers over the years. But, every now and then, we get a gem.

It should come as no surprise that the latest to fall into the latter camp comes from Valtteri Bottas, who, since leaving behind his life at Mercedes-AMG playing second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton, has become F1’s lord of memes. No one has ever looked so comfortable sporting a moustache and mullet, nor been as happy to put out a nude charity calendar.

And so, in this advert for an Australian car-sharing offshoot of Uber aired ahead of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, Bottas looks right at home in a turquoise, sleeveless set of overalls, espousing the virtues of his “second car”. It’s a Holden ute, complete with flip-flop storage, a "budgie smuggler drying system" and a built-in pie oven. Make sure you watch all the way to the end - the deadpan final line is brilliantly delivered.

The car, by the way, isn’t just for the purposes of the advert - it is genuinely available to rent for free between 22 March and 12 April in Melbourne. Also, 10 random Uber Carshare cars will be provided with a free ‘road trip kit” including a Bottas-shaped air freshener. Yes, really.

Bottas, who’s in a relationship with Australian cyclist Tiffany Cromwell and spends his off-season in Oz, can hardly be blamed for keeping things light-hearted away from the F1 paddock. After all, his day job does involve driving for a team which is now called the ‘Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’, the cars of which have spent the opening races of the 2024 F1 season milling around the back of the grid.

Bottas finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in 19th, and the Saudi GP in a marginally better 17th. The Australian GP has been known for surprise results in the past, though, so Valtteri might have something to celebrate other than a fat paycheque from Uber.