According to storied F1 photographer, Kym Illman, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas often rides into the paddock on his bicycle. However, at the 2023 US Grand Prix, held at Austin, due to the non-availability of any proximate accommodation options, the Finn had to resort to using a fuel-injected beast instead, as revealed on YouTube by Illman.
Formula 1 drivers up and down the paddock in the US chose to ride into the venue in their cars. Bottas on the other hand, chose to arrive at the track in a Harley-Davidson bike with his girlfriend, Tiffany Cromwell accompanying the 34-year-old Nastola native. What’s more? His particular variant, the 2023 CVO Street Glide would’ve put him back by around $43,000.
F1 driver Valtteri Bottas competed in a gravel cycling race this weekend and finished 114th out of 1,000 participants.
• Distance: 70 miles
• Elevation: 2,500 feet
• Time: 4 hours and 1 minuteAnd Bottas’ girlfriend, Tiffany Cromwell, placed 1st in the women’s event. pic.twitter.com/41ZHPZWx9F
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) May 22, 2023
“Valtteri Bottas often arrives on two wheels, typically on a bicycle which uses pedal power. But this race, there’s not too much accommodation anywhere near. So, he arrived on two wheels but on a Harley-Davidson Street Glide. Last year, he did the same thing and on his back was his Australian girlfriend, Tiffany Cromwell,” explained the Australian photographer.
In the current-age of sponsorship and brand obligations, the ex-Mercedes driver is one of the rare drivers that are not actually obligated to parade around in their ‘company cars‘. That’s why, even though he is an Alfa Romeo driver, he doesn’t need to rely on the Guila or Stelvio for his conveyance needs.
Back in the day with the Silver Arrows, however, the Finnish racing ace’s hands would’ve been tied with a mandated Mercedes beauty being the only choice of travel he would’ve been left with. Not too bad considering that he owns one of only 275, $2,700,000-a-piece Mercedes AMG One cars made owing to his ties with the Brackely-based team.
Drivers other than Valtteri Bottas who were promoting employer companies in Austin
George Russell arrived in the paddock with an exquisite Mercedes AMG GLS 63. What’s more? He even had to stand and pose for pictures with the car due to his promotional obligations. His teammate, 7x champion, Lewis Hamilton chose to don a GLE 53 instead.
The Red Bull and Ferrari drivers were no different. Given their recent partnership with Ford for 2026, Max Verstappen was seen sporting a Ford F150 Lightning Platinum. His adversary, Charles Leclerc was obviously strapped into a Ferrari! This time in a $300,000 296 GTB.
2x champion, Fernando Alonso had to enter the paddock in his Aston Martin DBX707. was obligated to arrive in the car, he left back for his hotel in a Chevy Suburban.
F1 is the peak of automotive engineering. Naturally, 20 of the best drivers in the world are expected to show off their employer-companies. More so when the sport has just tapped into the massive American market. With the sport blooming, this is the perfect chance for teams and companies associated with them to ride high and reap the benefits of some strong marketing.
