Mercedes star shares injury worries ahead of Chinese Grand Prix

Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas has jokingly expressed his worry about receiving an injury during a light-hearted social media video posted by the Formula 1 team.

The Finn received a lifeline in the sport when Mercedes confirmed that he will serve as their reserve driver in 2025, and has been put to good use on the team's social media since arriving back at the team.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Bottas was explaining the concept of the sprint race, ahead of the first event of the season which will take place on Saturday.

Bottas was filmed sprinting through the paddock, getting more and more out of breath as he tried to read out Mercedes' full script on the sprint race concept.

Bottas' Mercedes social bloopers

Bottas has become known for his quirky, eccentric style on his personal social media profiles, regularly posting videos advertising products, or just displaying his many off-track hobbies.

In this latest video for Mercedes' socials, Bottas can be heard beginning to go through his explanation: "Hi, this is Valtteri Bottas and this is F1 sprint explained," he said.

"F1 sprint is a flat out race of 100km, about one third of the usual grand prix. There are six sprint weekends in F1 during 2025, including the first one starting here in China."

Mercedes decided to include Bottas' bloopers at the end of the video, including one where he called the session 'FP1', and another one where he proclaimed: "I'm going to pull my muscle!"

Mercedes will be hoping not, with Bottas on hand in China to jump into the car in the event of an injury or illness to any of the team's main two drivers George Russell or Kimi Antonelli.

Bottas previously drove with Mercedes between 2017-2021, claiming 10 victories and 58 podiums with the team.

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A post shared by Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@mercedesamgf1)

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