The 37-year-old Finn covered 419.67 km in all and posted daily updates of the ride on social media.
He set off from Sepang International Circuit, south of Kuala Lumpur, on the night of Oct. 4, hours after spinning out of the Bahrain Grand Prix there, according to Malaysian national news agency Named.
The race was relocated to Malaysia after being canceled earlier in the season amid tensions in the Middle East, and was F1’s first at Sepang since 2017.
Reuters initially reported that Bottas had decided not to fly or drive the 350 km and that a Cadillac spokeswoman expected the ride to take three days.
The journey ran longer because of the paths he took. Malaysian gravel cyclists helped him plan the route, most of it off-road, and a support vehicle stayed close by.
Bottas described riding at night in the jungle as the wildest part of the trip, according to the BBC.
His posts shows he rode 56.6 km in just over two hours on Oct. 4, 161.91 km in 5 hours 45 minutes on Oct. 5 and another 161 km in 5.5 hours on Oct. 6, before finishing the last 40.16 km on Oct. 7.
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Cadillac Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas gives a thumbs-up on a dirt track lined with oil palms during his 420 km ride from Malaysia’s Sepang circuit to Singapore, in a photo he posted on Oct. 7, 2026. Photo courtesy of Valtteri Bottas on Instagram |
AsiaOne reported that he cleared the Sultan Iskandar checkpoint in Johor Bahru at about 2:20 p.m. that day and was seen past Woodlands Crossing in Singapore by 2:40 p.m.
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore presented him with a certificate of completion. Bottas told reporters in Singapore on Oct. 8 that he saw a cobra and a python cross his path and had to jump his bike over a large lizard he spotted late.
“I saw some snakes, which I was a little bit worried about, but actually they were pretty chill,” he said.
“I got chased by one dog, I got stuck behind a group of cows on one small track,” the BBC quoted him as saying.
He rode after dark to avoid the heat. “The noise in there, your mind starts to play games,” he said of the night stretches through the jungle.
Bottas has raced in F1 since 2013 and has 10 wins, according to The Associated Press.
He is 22nd in the drivers’ standings and has yet to score a point in 16 races with new team Cadillac this season.
A keen cyclist, he qualified for the Gravel World Championships but will miss them because they fall on the same weekend as the Singapore race, the broadcaster said.
The Singapore Grand Prix runs at Marina Bay on Oct. 9-11, with first practice on Oct. 9.