Formula 1 is one of the fasting growing sports in popularity here in the United States. While it enjoys soccer/football levels of fanaticism the rest of the world over, we’re just now coming around to it. And when first getting into any new sport, it is difficult to decide who to root for; they’re all just helmeted faceless dudes—and they are all dudes—in jumpsuits driving multi-million-dollar cars, so how do you choose on to glom onto? Like with most important decisions in my life, I turn to coffee. That’s why my allegiance falls strongly with Valtteri Bottas, big time coffee guy.
As reported by Jalopnik, Bottas’ coffee bona fides are strong. The Finnish driver who last season switched from Mercedes to become the elder statesman at Alfa Romeo tells the car- and racing-focused website that he brings an AeroPress and hand grinder with him whenever he is traveling the world for his races. And when he’s not brewing his own coffee, he’s out scouting for good cafes. “Luckily we go to locations for the grands prix that quite often you can find good coffee and small roasteries and stuff like that,” Bottas tells Jalopnik in an interview. When he was in Austin for the last month’s 2022 United State Grand Prix, for instance, Bottas name dropped none other than Try Hard Coffee Roasters, the 2021 Sprudgie Award winner for Best New Cafe. Unfortunately, exquisite taste in coffee wasn’t the prime factor in the race and Bottas tied for last with a DNF after spinning out and losing control of his car on lap 16.
If seeking out the best cafes while traveling and bringing your own stash from home—both very relatable for the fanatic coffee drinkers of the world—isn’t enough to sway you, then how about the fact that Bottas is also the co-owner of his own coffee roastery? When not driving very fast all over the world, Bottas can be found taking the Giesen for a spin at Kahiwa Coffee Roasters in Lahti, Finland. He was even a judge at the Finnish AeroPress Championship when the cafe and roastery hosted the event.
And really, Bottas in a good choice for entry-level fandom. He’s a strong driver, having previously won 10 races, contributed to five constructor titles—given each year to the team that performs the best—as well as two runner-up finishes in the drivers’ championship, basically the individual version of the constructor championship. But Bottas is not a front-runner pick. He’s never won it all individually, and now that he’s on a new team in rebuilding mode, Bottas isn’t exactly the odds-on favorite to win immediately. You’re buying low, with lots of upside.
So Valtteri, if you really want to get the fine people of the specialty coffee world on your side, you should put a Sprudge sticker on your ride. Their small, quite fetching, and have a favorable drag coefficient. Just think about it is all I’m saying.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
