Bottas rides 250 miles through Malaysian jungle to reach Singapore Grand Prix

A race-week journey far from the usual flight

While many Formula One drivers travelled from Malaysia to Singapore by air, Valtteri Bottas took the long way: a four-day bicycle ride across more than 250 miles of roads and gravel tracks. The Cadillac driver reached Singapore on Wednesday after setting out from Kuala Lumpur following the race weekend at Sepang.

The idea began as a joke from his partner, professional cyclist Tiffany Cromwell. Bottas checked the distance, planned the stages and enlisted two Malaysian riders who knew the area, along with a support vehicle. He chose a route with remote gravel sections rather than simply taking the most direct road.

Snakes, darkness and a lizard in the road

The early part of the trip included a short ride on Sunday night, followed by two demanding days of roughly 100 miles each. Riding after dark through the jungle was unsettling at first, Bottas said, as the sounds around him made it hard not to wonder what was nearby. He described the night ride as “probably the most epic part in the forest.”

Wildlife made the journey memorable. Bottas saw a king cobra and carefully avoided a large python crossing his path. He also encountered monkeys, wild boar warnings, cows blocking a narrow track and a dog that chased him. At one point, he had to bunny-hop over a large lizard sitting in the road.

After completing the final stretch across the Malaysia-Singapore border, Bottas reached his hotel with time to spare, including for Malaysian coffee. The hotel marked his arrival with a certificate of completion.

Bottas says the ride will not derail his race preparation

The 37-year-old said he felt in good condition ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, whose race is scheduled for 8 p.m. local time. He described long-distance cycling as familiar training and said he spent most of the rides in the lowest heart-rate zones recorded by his fitness tracker. His plan after arriving was to rest, hydrate and refuel.

“Those distances are nothing unusual for me,” Bottas said, adding that he was “really glad” he made the trip. Asked whether he would do it again, he said that immediately after finishing he had ruled it out, but had since started reconsidering: “It was a good one-off adventure.”

His Cadillac teammate Sergio Pérez was impressed, joking that he had chosen golf during the break instead. For Bottas, the ride was more than a training effort: he said cycling let him experience parts of Malaysia he would never have seen otherwise.