KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Forget the plane or a comfortable car ride, Cadillac Formula 1 (F1) Team driver Valtteri Bottas has chosen a rather unusual way to get from Malaysia to Singapore - by riding a bicycle.
Barely hours after the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix (GP) in Malaysia 2026 ended at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) on Sunday, the 37-year-old Finn got on his bicycle and began his journey south, turning the trip to the next F1 round into a gruelling endurance ride.
Bottas is aiming to cover over 300 kilometres (km) between Sepang and Singapore, with the journey expected to take several days before he joins the F1 paddock for the Singapore GP 2026, which runs from Oct 9 until 11.
“Yes, I’m riding to Singapore. On the gravel roads less travelled,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
His journey has taken him along gravel and dirt roads, including dark stretches through oil palm plantations, with one of his night rides illuminated only by the light mounted on his bicycle.
The avid cyclist even encountered monkeys along the way, while his route took him through Melaka, including the historic Stadthuys area, before continuing south towards Johor.
According to his Strava activity, Bottas' first recorded stop after leaving SIC was Port Dickson, after he covered 56.6km in just over two hours.
The former Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team subsequently continued his journey that covered 161.91km in over five hours and was reported to have reached Muar, Johor, as he pressed on towards Singapore.
Strava is a social fitness-tracking platform that records activities such as cycling and running, including distance, route, duration and speed, allowing users to track and share their workouts.
Bottas had already been a familiar sight around Sepang before the Bahrain GP in Malaysia, as he was spotted riding local roads surrounded by oil palm plantations as he acclimatised to the Malaysian conditions ahead of race weekend.
Bottas' unusual journey comes after a frustrating Bahrain GP in Malaysia, where he retired early after spinning into the gravel on the ninth lap.
The race was won by four-time world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, who claimed his maiden victory of the season.
Current drivers’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes finished runner-up, while seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari completed the podium in third.
In July, Formula 1 confirmed Malaysia as the host of the Gulf Air Bahrain GP from Oct 2 to 4 following an agreement involving Formula 1, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the governments of Malaysia and Bahrain.
The agreement kept the Bahrain GP on the 2026 F1 calendar after the race was cancelled earlier in the season due to geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
SIC previously hosted the Malaysian GP from 1999 until 2017.
-- BERNAMA