Valtteri Bottas has explained that a greater degree of freedom at Alfa Romeo has allowed him to express himself more compared to his past career in F1.

Bottas has shown his lighter side since leaving Mercedes, notably posting an image on his social media channels last year in which he bared his backside while swimming in a stream in Colorado.

On a return visit to the American state during the recent summer break, Bottas took part in a cycling event, the SBT Hill Climb, dressed as The Simpsons character ‘Duffman’.

In winning the fancy dress element of the competition, his prize was his weight in beer.

“It was a good break, a proper disconnect before the last 10 races which are going to be pretty hectic, so it was nice to have some time off to do things I just wanted to do,” said Bottas, speaking to media at Zandvoort ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.

“It was good. I like to see new places, explore, so that was my way of relaxing, and also being a competitive person, of course, I had to enter into a cycling race, which was fun.”

Asked by Speedcafe as to why he dressed as Duffman, he replied: “Because the prize for the best costume was your weight in beer, and I really wanted to win the prize!

“I was thinking about it, obviously being mainly an American crowd, so I went for The Simpsons and Duffman.”

As to whether Duffman was his favourite character from the show, he said: “I would still go for Homer.

“But I had to figure out with the costume whether I’d still be able to cycle up the hill, and Homer would have been a bit tricky.”

Bottas has confirmed that after being handed his prize he “only took a six pack”, donating the rest “to all of the spectators and competitors, so it was a good afternoon”.

Bottas, who left Mercedes at the end of 2021 after five seasons and moved on to Alfa Romeo, readily concedes some of his antics now he would never have done earlier in his career, nor whilst with the German manufacturer.

“I think it’s a combination of a few things,” explained Bottas.

“I would never imagine doing stuff like that, for example, in my rookie year. People would be like ‘What’s that?’

“But I think once you’ve been around a bit more, you get comfortable with things, and I just don’t take social media seriously anymore.

“I’m more than happy to make fun of myself and do that kind of stuff, and people love it. They can kind of relate to it – ‘Okay, he’s a normal guy who has a sense of humour’.

“It’s fun to share stuff like that, and for sure, with many things having an effect – the team environment and stability.”