Lewis Hamilton has said he's happy to see his former Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas looking so much happier and comfortable within himself since leaving Brackley.
After making his F1 debut for Williams in 2013, Bottas drove for the Mercedes team from 20-17 until the end of 2021 when he moved to Alfa Romeo. In 203 race starts he's picked up 10 wins, 20 poles and 19 fastest laps.
During his time at Brackley, Bottas was a loyal team player and contributed to four of Hamilton's successful championship campaigns, but was frustrated to never get the opportunity to challenge for a title his own.
Bottas has been noticeably more relaxed and chilled out since his move to Alfa Romeo, which has helped him find new personal happiness both on and off the track.
Bottas spent time in Melbourne promoting a new gin brand that he has invested in, and embraced the relaxed Australian dress code with his appearance at the pre-weekend press conference in tank top, shorts and flip-flops.
“I think that as a rookie I wouldn’t have come to the paddock with flip-flops and so on,” he admitted. “Now it’s a bit easier to set up things and I don’t take myself too seriously. It definitively changes with time.
“In this sport, as a rookie you have to go through the system, you’re almost educated on how to behave, how to brand yourself and so on," he acknowledged. "But then comes a point of, ‘This is who I am, deal with it’.”
In the past, Bottas has talked about how he suffered an eating order arising from his efforts to get fit, stay in shape and keep his weight down to boost the performance of the car.
Bottas married his longtime girlfriend, Olympic swimmer Emilia Pikkarainen in 2016 but the couple subsequently announced their divorce in 2019 citing the challenges my career and life situation bring".
Bottas has since found happiness with Australian Olympic pro-cyclist Tiffany Cromwell. who regular attends Grand Prix weekends and has even contributed helmet designs for the Finn's race appearances.
Other drivers including George Russell and Lando Norris have also spoken about the need to open up about mental health issues, and Hamilton is glad to see his former loyal 'wingman' and good friend looking so much happier today.
“It’s great," he said last week. "I just saw Valtteri in flip flops right now with his tan lines around his socks. His sock line!
“It’s great to see him flourish and feeling more and more a part of himself and knowing where he wants to go," Hamilton added. “It’s cool that he’s got his things that he’s doing, I wish him all the best with it.”
"For everyone, it’s a whole discovery process, isn’t it? Compartmentalising and just making space for happiness away from the track.
"Probably the same applies to everyone here," he added. "All of us work so hard, we’re all travelling so much, we’re all away from our families and friends so much that we’re missing out on a lot of things.
“What are you doing to make time for yourself, and for something that makes you happy?," he said. "It’s such an important thing for mental health.
"Make sure you find something that you love, whether it’s taking a language course or playing an instrument or playing football, whatever it may be."
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