Valtteri Bottas cycles from Sepang towards Singapore, riding through oil palm plantations at night

Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas has been the talk of social media in Malaysia this week. Not because of a race result, but because he chose to cycle at night along dark trails through the middle of oil palm plantations.

According to a VOCKET report on 5 October, the story went viral when screenshots of the Finnish driver's Instagram Story were shared on Threads. The short clip shows a narrow trail inside an oil palm plantation, lit only by his bicycle's headlight.

Day one: KLIA to Port Dickson

Bottas called the ride "Malaysia to Singapore Day 1". Here are his numbers, based on the screenshot of the cycling app that was shared:

The ride's name suggests it is the first of several days on the way to Singapore. Records for the following days have not been reported yet.

Netizens stunned, some ran into him on the road

Many local netizens expressed surprise and joked about Bottas's daring, since an oil palm plantation at night is not a place most people would ride through. Some users also shared videos after coming across the F1 driver on the road.

According to netizens' comments cited by VOCKET, Bottas is also an active gravel cyclist and has qualified for the Gravel World Championships. That explains why he looks so at ease on unsealed dirt roads.

The full report, including videos shared by netizens, is on VOCKET.