Bottas can’t pick a favourite spot on the Great Ocean Road, but reflects fondly on the couple’s relaxed journey.

“We are both so competitive that it’s better that we don’t compete against each other, so we ride together,” he says.

Cromwell says Bottas is a strong cyclist and this year aims to clock 10,000 kilometres on the bike. “Last year it was 7777 and at the start of December he still had 2000 kilometres to ride, so he did a very big December with me,” she tells The Age and Sydney Morning Herald from Monaco. “In December we rode bikes a lot. So, this year he’s trying to start a bit earlier because he has set a bigger goal.”

The former drivers’ championship runner-up also arrived early for the grand prix this year to spend time in Adelaide with Cromwell’s family.

“The last few days I was actually in McLaren Vale picking grapes,” he says.

It’s a long way from when Bottas first travelled to Australia as a test driver for the Williams F1 team in the early 2010s.

“It was all just Melbourne, and hotel, and racetrack, and a little bit of surroundings,” he says. “The more you learn about the country the more you respect it.”

Bottas met Cromwell at a pub in Monaco, where the couple are based. They shared mutual friends and a mutual interest in cycling and their partnership has since extended to entrepreneurial ventures.

Cromwell is in Europe competing in the spring classics but in-between her own road and gravel racing schedule, she dedicates time to designing limited-edition helmets for Bottas to wear on the F1 circuit. This season she’s committed to eight or nine, with designs typically speaking to the race destination or something personal.

Bottas brandished one of Cromwell’s designs in Melbourne last year, a fun and frivolous tribute to the nation’s bright surf, sand and colloquialisms, but this season, searching for something more meaningful, Cromwell sought out an introduction with Kildea for the task.

“We decided to go down the Indigenous route because I love Aboriginal art, it’s not only quite unique, but it tells such a deeper story when you learn what every little detail represents and means,” Cromwell says.

“It’s about connecting a bit deeper to Australia, to the country and history. Also, for Valtteri to have a design which he can connect to even deeper.

“We sat down with him [Kildea], and he got a bit more of an idea of our connection to Australia, Valtteri’s connection to Australia and then some of his stories in his racing career as well, like with resilience.”

Bottas considered quitting F1 before he won the 2019 Australian Grand Prix in a story of resilience, or Finnish sisu, that he’ll wear upon his return to the race at Albert Park this weekend.

“In 2018 he had a really rough year. He was almost going to quit the sport,” Cromwell says. “He took some time away and then in December or January called the team and said, ‘Nah, I’m continuing, let’s do this.’ And then first race was the Australian Grand Prix, and he went and won it.

“A lot of the things within the paintings reflects on that. There’s various elements which represent resilience, and the journey you’ve been on and the certain meeting points along the way that’s taken him to where he is now.”

Bottas enters the Australian Grand Prix after a disappointing 18th-place finish in Saudi Arabia, and eighth in the opening grand prix in Bahrain. He says the team has since discovered car faults that contributed to the result. His Alfa Romeo outfit is sixth in the constructors’ championship after two races.

Bottas’ start to the season compares favourably to Melbourne-born Oscar Piastri – the only Australian driver in Formula 1. Piastri’s McLaren team is struggling and has sacked its technical director due to a sub-par car.

“I think [Piastri] made a good step from first to second race. The first one is always nerve-racking as a rookie. But I think he’s got the talent, no doubt, and he seems like a smart young driver,” Bottas says.

Bottas wishes the Australian Grand Prix would return to its traditional slot as Formula 1’s opening race. The Albert Park extravaganza was moved to third on the calendar after COVID-19 restrictions delayed its return to the F1 fixture.

“I always loved it here when it was the first race because the first race every season is really special. There’s many question marks,” Bottas says. “Now, we’ve had a couple of races and we kind of know more or less where we should be and what the goal is. It’s still a great grand prix, but wish it would be the first one.”

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