What does an F1 driver's house REALLY look like?! | At Home with Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri, [music] we've come outside the

airport about 45 minutes in Adelaide.

Where are we? We are in my Australian

base at The Vineyard Retreat in [music]

McLaren Vale, South Australia. This

place is vast. It's good size. Yeah.

>> [laughter]

>> I like it.

>> [music]

>> This may be the daftest question

anyone's ever asked you, but why did you

move here?

>> [laughter]

>> Why not?

Well, it's um

to me this is paradise. You know, you

got I I I feel like I have everything I

need here. It's so nice to have a place

in Australia. My better half, Tiffany,

is from Australia. And yeah, I've been

looking for a place for a couple of

years now. It's not bad holiday home, I

have to say.

I've had worse backdrops for interviews,

but Have you? [laughter] Yes. I mean,

this is amazing. This is absolutely

stunning. For me, it's the dream.

And yeah, I know. It's for me as well.

It's probably one of my favorite views

in the world.

>> [music]

>> This is all going to be harvested

tomorrow, I hear. Yeah, some were

harvested a few days ago. You see

they're pretty ripe. Want to try one?

>> [music]

>> Yeah. Pretty good.

>> Oh, wow. That is really good. And what

type are these? This is red wine,

Grenache. And these were actually

planted almost 70 years ago. Wow.

>> Yeah, so and they call Australian wine

the new world wine. The new world wine.

>> [music]

>> I watched the video the other day of you

talking about how being with Cadillac

you've been able to get involved in

everything. Can you just tell me a bit

more about that? What sort of things you

have been able to do?

Well, I've never been part of designing

a steering wheel layout or you know,

choosing the exact buttons for the

wheels. And uh

you know, example choosing the very own

steering ratio I want. Stuff like that,

you know. There's so much more you can

do when you start as a new team, when

you're not really carrying any habits or

or bits from from the past. You know,

you can

really be part of

designing everything in in in a car,

which is really cool.

>> [music]

>> You've also got everything you need

essentially on site, haven't you? I

mean, you don't even need to go out.

No, I mean,

you know, I love cycling. You know,

there's endless roads and gravel roads

here. I've got my own gym in the shed.

Um the beach is 15-20 minutes away as

well.

That way. And um

yeah, paradise.

>> [music]

>> I guess with you and Checo, there's so

much feedback going back towards the

team. I mean, your progression rate

should be quite steep, shouldn't it?

Hopefully. It It should be. And I think

it will be. You know, we've already come

a long way from from the first

shakedown. It's going to be pretty rapid

improvement from here. And me and Checo,

from every session there's always pretty

long list of things we we can do better.

You were both with teams when they were

dominating, both watching it happen. So,

I guess there's a lot you can bring to

Cadillac actually from that experience.

Do you two ever talk about that? About

those times? We do. You know, I think

we've both seen a lot in the sport. You

know, we've seen

what works with a good team. We've also

both seen what

doesn't quite work, you know. So, we've

seen the good and bad. We I think we

have good understanding on what the team

needs,

what the car needs, how the team needs

to operate to to be at the best level.

So, I think together also with the what

mindset that we both have that we are

definitely putting the team first

instead of us, and that's going to

hopefully help us to improve quicker.

So, no number two drivers in your team.

No number twos. Or if there's number

twos, then both We are both number twos.

Yeah.

>> [laughter]

>> You've brought a little bit of Finland

to Australia, cuz I don't reckon there

are many Australians who have a sauna in

their garden. I don't think so. I I I

could be the only one in the region. But

yeah, Finnish sauna.

I thought it is a must. [music] I just

grew up using sauna like pretty much

every day. And it for me it's a place to

relax. Kind of at the end of the day you

go in,

you're there with your own thoughts. And

the view from in here, I don't think

there can be any sauna in the world with

that view. Do you ever sit here [music]

and think, "I've done all right."?

I do. Good. Yeah, I try to do it every

[clears throat] day.

You had that time out from the sport, so

did Checo. When you come back, do you

come with a fresh mentality? Absolutely.

You know, for me it's made a big

difference. [music] Like

I

appreciate being part of the sport. I

appreciate the sport, everything around

it much more than than before. And and

especially like

the racing side of it. Like for me the

whole process on Sunday, you know, the

get ready, you jump in the car,

get to the grid, you do the national

anthem, you know, you just

have this appreciation um of everything

that

we are so lucky to be there, you know.

So, um for me it has made a huge

difference. And I think it can help me

in the years ahead.

And this is one of the guest houses?

Yes.

Putting the cushions straight and

everything. This is brilliant.

Oh, wow. Look at that.

Want to check inside? I can Yeah,

definitely. Uh get my secret code.

Uh-oh.

>> [laughter]

>> He can't get in.

Oh.

I think they changed the code. They

changed the code on you and not told

you.

Oh, success. Rest of it never happened.

This is beautiful. You can have anything

you want,

including my wine.

We have local eggs,

bacon,

soft drinks, some more wine. [music]

Do you ever come out and meet the

guests? I've met a few. Yeah. Yeah.

There were some actually British

some

like two ladies. They were British. They

do like a wine blog or something or

travel blog. Okay. They're quite fun. Um

I met them. I carried their bags when

they checked out.

>> No way.

>> [laughter]

>> We will be booking in for next year, I

hate to tell you. And I'm expecting you

to carry my bags. And every Anyone

watching The Vineyard Retreat, McLaren

Vale, you're welcome.

>> [laughter]