Formula 1 veteran Valtteri Bottas plans to compete in two world championships this year, competing in both motorsport and cycling on a global stage.
The 34-year-old has raced in F1 for more than a decade, since earning his debut with Williams in 2013. He went on to partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for five years and is about to begin his third season with the Sauber outfit.
But although F1 will be his main focus this year, it won't be the only world championship in which Bottas has an interest. The Finn also plans to put his new-found love for gravel cycling to good use.
He is regularly spotted in the saddle whenever he gets the chance, having caught the cycling bug from Olympian girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell. But this year he wants to take his passion and turn it into competition.
Obviously, F1 is the priority for me," Bottas told the Bobby and Jens podcast. "But a close second is cycling. Whenever I get the chance, I try to fit in some good [cycling] training blocks and I plan on racing some more gravel events this year - this time of year is for the bicycle."
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He hopes to do enough this year to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships. The event is due to be held on the weekend of October 5 and 6, which fits in well with his F1 commitments.
It falls right into the middle of a rare three-week gap between races on the 24-event F1 calendar for 2024. Bottas could race in Singapore on September 22, travel to Belgium for the cycling event and head to Austin for the United States Grand Prix, on October 20.
Bottas' participation in the cycling championship is far from guaranteed, though. He will have to qualify like everyone else and can do so by finishing in the top quarter of participants in a UCI gravel cycling race between April and the cut-off date at the end of September.
Such a packed F1 schedule means he will have few opportunities to attempt to qualify. But Bottas is adamant that he will give it his all to do so - even if it means putting his body at risk.
He added: "I take bike racing seriously. If I enter a race, it is automatic that something happens in my brain - I will always be out there to challenge myself. I don't mind hurting myself [in a race]. I will try to qualify for Gravel Worlds [in 2024]... that's my goal."
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