Valtteri Bottas was part of a Finnish tv show called "Yökylässä" (sleepover) where the host goes to visit Finnish celebrities and spends two days and one night in their home. This episode aired on February 2nd, 2023 and was filmed at some point in 2022.
Below I give context to the screenshots and have also translated some interesting bits:
1st row: Just some cute random VB photos to start with
2nd row: He really loves gin, first two photos are from his main apartment and right photo is from his weekend house. It simply was too many bottles to fit into one shot (no pun)
3rd row: And here we have him making gin tonic using his own gin brand. The obligatory helmet wall (there was another one as well). He's had this Ferrari for a few months, says blue is his favorite color. He'd have wanted to drive the host around with it but the battery had run out so they went with his red Alfa Romeo SUV
4th row: That's his weekend house near the main apartment but outside the city center. An artist in Monaco offered to make art work (something funny) for him and this is what they received. The framed a$$ photo is in the guest bathroom of the weekend house. They sold 5400 pcs of prints of it in 24h and got 50k€ for charity
5th row: They face timed Mika. He (grinningly) says the only advise he can give to Valtteri is "to break later". Just some absolute mint slippers he was wearing when they brushed teeth. That's his boat which is called "Rehab" but "it's almost the opposite (when you go there)". They rent it for others too, a full day is ~5k€
Other stuff i decided to highlight:
There's 3 or 4 feral cats around the weekend house that they'll give food to
The most important trophies are in Finland, the one from his first win is the most special
"It's hard to find apartments that you like to stay in (in Monaco), the prices are crazy expensive and quality is quite bad and they're old"
He pays 9500 € rent per month for his apartment
He wouldn't say how much the weekend house cost
The main reason for moving to Monaco was the taxes. He's calculated that in Finland his net income would be ~20 % of all of his gross income. In Monaco it's 60-70% after his expenses (like managers etc.) At the beginning of his career when things were unsure he thought it's important to try to make as much money as possible, after all the hard work he had put into becoming an F1 driver
He doesn't enojy fame and would rather be unknown but he understands it's part of being in F1 and he'd do anything to be able to live his childhood dream
He drove a kart for the first time as 5yo, jumped out of it and told everyone he'll become an F1 driver
Mika Häkkinen was his idol as a kid. It was a wow moment when he got a call from an unkonwn number in 2007 and it was Mika who wanted to help him in his career
He handles his finances/contracts by himself because it's hard to give someone else control over those things. Also mentions he doesn't like to be a passenger in a car because he's not in control of it
He only goes to social media to post things he wants to share, he doesn't read any comments or dm's
Tiffany does read some comments and said there's now less hateful comments towards Valtteri compared to how much there was when he drove for Merc
He hasn't really been single, after his break ups he's fallen in love quickly again. "It's nice to have a life partner"
Weight mentions ahaed! He talks a bit about the same stuff he mentioned in his podcast last year; he trained himself sick (around 2014). He was having really unhealthy training and eating habits and hid things from his trainer. He thought at the time that was what he should do. "If your team tells you to weight a certain amount, you'll do it". He then talked to a psychologist who said at first he was behaving like a robot without emotions but after that he started to work on getting healthier habits back
Host: "Do you talk about mental health related issues with your colleagues?" - "Not really, it still isn't a common subject to talk about. Even though maybe we should, I'm not the only guy who sometimes struggles".
Host: "How was it when you were the second driver for years?" - "Quite tough. It was so hard to accept but now I've made peace with it that Lewis was a better driver than me. After last year (2021) I admitted to myself that that's just how it goes sometimes." "Did you use to be bitter and jealous?" - "Yes, especially the first couple of years. I didn't hate him, we had a good partnership but I always thought how can I beat him and be better than him and win the championship. But it was tough 5 years. I shouldn't have been as harsh to myself."
He pays the private jet company he uses extra amount of money, enough to compensate the environmental impact. They went to his boat and he said he will compensate the costs too
He mentions that sometimes in the places they travel to it's better to keep quiet and lay low than to speak up about the issues within the country. He does say that in Saudi (2022, after the missile) the drivers decided to not drive but they were guaranteed it's safe to do so and that there's heavy security around the track. "Show must go on" and they weren't really given an option other than to drive. Formula 1 goes to places that pay the most.
Host: "The only thing missing from your life is F1 championship, is that so?" - "Yes."
we turned on the tv and caught like the last five minutes of some tv program. they were showing a couple and a little baby, based on appearance, clothing and hair seemed they seemed to be a man and a woman
and then the woman spoke with a low voice. my mum's first reaction was "oh, it's a man?", in a surprised tone. not malicious, just a first reaction. my dad said: "no, they* had to start as a woman. i mean, look at those hands."
*i'm using they as a stand-in for the only third-person singular pronoun finnish has, hän, which does not mark gender. for my own dialogue i'm using she/her because that's what i would have used had this conversation been in a language that has gendered pronouns
at this point i was about to bang my head into a wall and instead said "i think she's probably a trans woman."
my dad: "well, good for her then, looks like the treatment's been really successful. she looks just like a woman."
my mum: "i think she probably looks just like she wants to."
so good for my mum i guess? even though her first reaction wasn't great, she came around and didn't start talking about anyone's hands.
i am concerned about my dad, who apparently thinks that testosterone can give you a very deep voice but make your appearance in no way masculine, and who finds it this implausible that a trans woman might pass this well
so yeah, that's why i don't really enjoy seeing trans people on tv when i'm watching with my parents
yes, hi, third year of university is like, you know that one person who is trash towards you? for me this person is called translation. like SAY THAT TO MY FKING FACE YOU TRASH
