“You’re the Guy From Netflix!”: Despite Many F1 Accolades, Former Mercedes Star Opens Up on the American Experience

Valtteri Bottas is one of the funniest guys on the grid and is known for his witty humor and as ‘the king of TikTok videos’. The Alfa Romeo driver helped Mercedes win 4 straight World Championships and is also seen prominently in the popular F1 Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive.

Drive to Survive is credited a great deal for F1’s success in the US. The series has helped spread more awareness about the sport in the country. DTS covers the life of drivers off the circuit as well as on it. This has really helped some of the drivers gain a huge fan following in the US, Daniel Ricciardo being the biggest case in point.

The Finn was often seen goofing around with Lewis Hamilton. He also gifted Lewis a painting of a picture clicked of him performing skinny dipping, which got really famous. Lewis’s former teammate saved the last painting for the 7-time World Champion.

Like other drivers, even Valtteri Bottas got really famous due to DTS. He remembers how people randomly come up to him and ask him if he’s the guy on Netflix. Talking on a podcast, Bottas said, “Every now and then, if I’m in the US, walking the streets, even in random towns, like ‘hey, you are the guy from Netflix!‘”

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The Alfa Romeo driver started the season on a bright note, but his good start has disappeared since.

Valtteri Bottas is ‘enjoying’ his life at F1 with Alfa Romeo

While Valtteri Bottas might not be fighting for race wins anymore, he feels happier than ever with Alfa Romeo. Bottas has 10 race wins in his career and a further 58 podiums. He opened up about life at Alfa Romeo and how the Alfa Romeo experience is different from Mercedes.

Bottas said, “I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s no lie, of course I do miss going into a weekend knowing there is a big chance of winning the race. Now, realistically, it’s a bit of a long shot. It’s a different mindset.” 

Bottas further added, “For me, this is a project that I jumped into and the rewarding feeling and satisfaction comes from different things. Seeing and feeling the progress. For example, fifth place in Imola for us as a team was almost like the feeling of a win. So it’s different, but I am really enjoying it a lot, this different mindset.”

The Finn is currently 10th in the driver’s standings with 46 points. The Alfa Romeo driver started the season strongly but the performances have slowly faded away. Can the ex-Mercedes driver find his form back in Singapore?