There’s a vast difference between Formula 1 drivers’ salaries, according to how successful they are and how high up they sit in the perceived pecking order. Quite a few travel to and from race weekends by private jet for not only the privacy afforded, but also the logistical benefits in terms of how long it takes you to get from A to B. Max Verstappen leads the way with a personally owned beautiful long-range Dassault Falcon 8X, which he uses extensively for both his F1 work and personal trips, including family holidays, while other drivers tend to hire private jets as required. Below this level, some can at least enjoy the benefits of first or business class after waiting for commercial flights, while some need to travel in economy, hoping that their fortunes will improve and with it the quality of their travel arrangements. Toto Wolff, the longtime part owner and team principal of the Mercedes team, travels the world in his own highly impressive Bombardier 6000 private jet and a few in favour drivers are understandably thrilled if a lift to or from a race weekend is offered.

I mention all this as 37-yer-old Valtteri Bottas, who currently drives for the F1 rookie team, Cadillac, and has yet to score a point this season, is a keen cyclist, together with his Australian partner, Tiffany Cromwell, who rides bikes professionally. Following the previous round in Malaysia, virtually everyone in the Formula 1 paddock had pre-set arrangements to fly on to Singapore for this weekend’s event. Not Bottas though, who, at the suggestion of Cromwell, opted to eschew a plane and simply ride a bicycle from Sepang to Singapore, mainly on gravel tracks and accompanied by his partner for much of the way.

It may sound extreme, but the route was actually only 420 kilometres (261 miles) long and was easily achievable for Bottas and Cromwell despite the heat and humidity, even though encountering snakes and lizards along the way was a little more challenging! The journey was undertaken in stages, while still making sure he arrived in Singapore on Wednesday afternoon ahead of his compulsory Thursday media duties, as required for all drivers at every F1 round. It’s interesting that Cadillac was clearly quite happy for him to take the physical risks involved, but unsurprisingly no other driver was willing to volunteer to join him, nor perhaps more significantly be allowed to do so by their teams for fear of injury!

As an aside, Wolff again faced questions in Singapore about whether he and his Mercedes team were biased towards young Kimi Antonelli over George Russell in their battle for this year’s world Drivers’ title and the Austrian robustly denied any such favouritism. Becoming the world champion obviously attracts the most media attention, but from a team perspective winning the Constructors’ title is far more important, as these end of season rankings specifically determine exactly how much prize money each team is paid. As such, it’s vital that both drivers score as many points as possible. Wolff also added that he and his wife often socialise together privately with Russell and his fiancée out of the public gaze, with them being close Monaco residents.

The final two rounds of the 2026 Formula 1 season have long been scheduled to take place in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and both countries are pushing hard for this to still be the case, despite the ongoing tension and conflict in the Middle East. In addition to the global exposure from holding a high profile near sell-out race weekends, the underlying financials are very significant, and discussions have long been underway between the two hosts and the Formula 1 Group. The latter’s president and CEO has now indicated that the rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are still set to happen, while understandably not giving any cast-iron assurance due to the risk of any subsequent escalation of life-threatening issues in the region.

As things currently stand, the teams and their drivers want to race there, and hotels have long been booked, but the safety of all concerned, including officials, media and attending fans, has to be the main consideration. It’s also vital to be aware that travel insurance cover for all concerned could become invalid if wilfully travelling to a conflict zone.



On a different subject, there’s a definite groundswell of opinion within the F1 world and amongst so many fans worldwide that, after the at times troubled 2026 campaign to date due to the complex new hybrid power units introduced at the start of the season, the latter should be replaced, and the sooner the better. It appears that by at least 2030 Formula 1 cars might well have simpler, louder and lighter V8 petrol engines, powered by sustainable fuels and with only a small hybrid capability. Revisions to the current power units will be achieved from next season onwards, but we’ll have to wait a little longer for the far more significant changes to follow.



Formula 1 has long been considered the pinnacle of world motorsport and rightly so, but a couple of recent incidents have been a cause for concern and have tarnished its image. Firstly, the software issues experienced by some of the cars during the almost farcical attempt to run two formation laps in Malaysia a week ago, under very wet conditions while behind the safety car, left some serious questions to be answered, and then this was hardly helped when further software problems relating to power availability and the timing systems during the qualifying session for this weekend’s Sprint race forced the process to be temporarily delayed. The FIA governing body considers F1 to have the best drivers, the best cars, the best designers and engineers and the best staff in all support roles, and this is generally true, if not in all cases. It’s vital, though, that the sport works hard to maintain its elite image and seeks to avoid any further embarrassing moments on the technical front.