Abu Dhabi, UAE, 09 December 2021
Bottas Unleashed: VB77 Drifting In The UAE

PUMA´s sponsored Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team driver Valtteri Bottas jumped in an 800bhp drift car at a private drift track outside of Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, 7th December. With only one more race remaining of the 2021 Formula 1 season, the 10-time Grand Prix winner took time out of his hectic schedule to meet up with the infamous UAE-based drift team Lunatics By Nature (LBN) to go for some laps.

Linking up with LBN Team member Dany Neville, Valtteri spent an afternoon on the track. “The sound of the V8 is incredible, and you can smell the melting rubber from the tires. It’s really really cool,” explained Valtteri.

“I’ve taken part in a lot of rallies - I suppose I have done some drifting in a way - because the techniques of car control are very similar; but I haven’t done anything like this before with a proper drift car and on an asphalt drift track.”

Bottas continues: “I’ve been driving cars since I was six years old, so that for sure helps - but for sure the things that helped me the most is my experience from rallying. In rallying you are always sliding the car and controlling the throttle, the weight transfer, the balance, and everything very differently to how you would drive an F1 car.”

 

 

It’s no secret that the 32-year-old Finn can drive anything which has got wheels. Valtteri´s driving talents have won him an army of loyal fans across the globe in both Formula 1 and Rally.

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