Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed that he has told Valtteri Bottas to crack down on his more extravagant endeavours upon his return to the Formula 1 team.
The Finn was replaced by George Russell at Mercedes after the 2021 season as he moved to the Sauber-owned team, then ran under the Alfa Romeo moniker.
But having lost his seat with the Hinwil-based squad, Bottas has reunited with Mercedes in a reserve driver role as he bids to come back to the grid next season.
During his time away from the Brackley-based squad, Bottas showed another side as embraced his ‘honorary Australian’ tag by growing out a moustache and mullet.
With a following of 4.7 million on Instagram, the 35-year-old often showcases his many adventures with his long-term partner Tiffany Cromwell, who is a professional cyclist from Australia.
To cap it all off, the 10-time F1 winner showed off his bare backside during an episode of Netflix’s hit Drive to Survive series, and then once again on Instagram.
Bottas even released a nude calendar titled ‘Botass 2024’ which comprised 13 images from last year with the proceeds all going to Prostate Cancer Research.
Whilst Wolff stressed the importance of remaining authentic, the Austrian explained how Bottas would be expected to take a break from the nude calendars.
“We are Mercedes, so maybe the nude calendar is not on anymore,” Wolff told RacingNews365.
“So we’ve said that, but we need to keep him authentic.”
Bottas to take on mentorship role with Antonelli
Shown through Wolff’s lack of amusement with the bum pictures, Mercedes values its image in comparison to Sauber who held no objections to the calendars.
However, the 53-year-old was okay with one aspect of Bottas’ expressive nature.
“If he wants to keep the ugly mullet, then he should,” Wolff smiled.
As well as reigning in his off-track endeavours, Bottas will take newly recruited Andrea Kimi Antonelli under his wing for the 2025 season.
The Italian rookie is entering his first year in the sport after graduating from Formula 2 and Wolff wants Bottas to give him a hand.
“Part of the role of Valtteri will be to have a look on Kimi,” he explained.
“Be there to coach, be there to have an eye on what’s happening on the track.
“And Kimi is going to learn from Valtteri and from George.”
With 101 races for Mercedes, Bottas took 58 podiums alongside his 10 wins for the team during the years 2017 to 2021.
If one of Antonelli or Russell is made unavailable, the former Williams racing driver will be ready to step up.
Though Wolff provided his stance on nude calendars and hairstyles, he didn’t specify his view on whether Bottas can continue other trends like when he introduced a moustache sticker to his helmet in a show of his support for the Movember movement.
READ MORE: Exclusive: Valtteri Bottas to ‘look elsewhere’ should 2026 F1 return not materialise
