Valtteri Bottas suffered from an ‘eating disorder’ and needed a ‘psychologist’ early in his F1 career. The Finnish driver would later face Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, but first had to optimize his approach to training, nutrition and mental preparation.

Bottas’ rise through the feeder series ranks has been rapid. The Finn was racing in the GP3 Series in 2011, but after winning four of the last seven races en route to the title, he found himself on the fringes of the F1 grid.

After spending 2012 as a test and reserve driver at Williams, Bottas joined the Grove-based team for a difficult 2013 season, but in 2014 the iconic manufacturer returned to form and the man The 35-year-old took six podiums while finishing. fourth in the ranking.

But behind the scenes, things weren’t going smoothly. “I trained to the point of being physically and mentally ill,” Bottas explained in the Maria Veitola series in 2023. “It got out of control and it became an addiction. I wasn’t officially diagnosed with an eating disorder, but I definitely had one.

The Nastola-born pilot ate only steamed broccoli between training sessions, taking his routine to the extreme. “It wasn’t really healthy,” he continued. “I wanted to be the best and I thought I had to do it. If the team says I have to weigh 68 kilos and I naturally weigh 73 kilos, then I will do everything I can to achieve that.”

Bottas also spoke about his mental problems and his use of psychiatrists during his F1 career. The first case occurred after the death of his friend and Marussia driver Jules Bianchi in 2015.

He explained: “I needed a psychologist to help me recover, and his first assessment of me was that I was almost like a robot who only wanted to achieve his goal and had no emotions. It was shocking. It’s true that at that time, I had no other life than F1.”

Bottas also sought professional help after his departure Mercedes. “It was a big obstacle to ask for outside help,” he noted. “People think they’re such tough guys that they don’t need help, that they can handle things by looking in the mirror. But a professional knows how to ask the right questions and open up a lot of locks.”

In recent years, since leaving Brackley, Bottas has come out of his shell even more and as he heads into a season on the sidelines after leaving Sauber, he has become one of the most interesting and adored personalities sports.