Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis took to his X earlier this week to welcome Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas to South Africa and, of course, the Mother City.
Bottas had jetted into the country after a difficult outing at the past weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, which saw him experiencing car trouble that forced him to retire on lap 20 during Sunday’s race at the Shanghai International Circuit.
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The Kick Sauber F1 team driver marked his arrival with two gorgeous sunset snaps posted on his social media platforms on Monday evening:
View this post on Instagram
To which an opportunistic Hill-Lewis responded, wishing the 34-year-old a wonderful time and amusingly adding that he hoped Bottas’ visit would fire up a conversation about bringing the world’s highest class of international racing to Cape Town:
Welcome to South Africa, welcome to Cape Town! πΏπ¦
Hope youβre here to talk about bringing F1 to Cape Town ππ
Have a wonderful time. https://t.co/fHttlIUd8o
β Geordin Hill-Lewis (@geordinhl) April 23, 2024
According to a post on X by Rallycross content writer Junaid Samodien, Bottas took the long flight across the globe to support his girlfriend, Tiffany Cromwell, who is an Australian professional cyclist.
The 35-year-old is set to take part in South Africa’s premier gravel bike race and qualifying event for the Trek UCI Gravel World Championships β the Swartberg 100 this Saturday.
Another social media post by Bottas, shared on Tuesday, sees the couple exploring the ‘South African gravel’ of the Swartberg Pass:
South African gravel πΏπ¦#VB77 @tiffanycromwell pic.twitter.com/6vV7OeMHAh
β Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) April 23, 2024
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Picture:Β @ValtteiBottas / X