F1 driver Bottas raises $150k for charity with nude calendar

Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas has raised $150,000 for men’s health charity Movember after a ‘Bottass 2024’ calendar featuring photographs of him showing off his butt disappeared from shelves.

A first print run of 10,000 copies, of which €5 ($5.46) each was intended for prostate cancer research, quickly sold out along with other print runs.

“Thank you so much for all your support in November. Thanks to donations and calendars, together we have raised a substantial amount for @Movember,” Bottas announced on social media on Thursday.

“The final figures will be calculated in the coming days, but we are talking about around $150,000 in funds raised!”

The Alfa Romeo driver came up with the idea for the calendar with photographer Paul Ripke after his partner and Australian cyclist Tiffany Cromwell took a photo of Bottas lying naked in a stream in Aspen, Colorado.

This photo was a hit on Instagram and was sold for charity.

“I had questions, people were asking me ‘Why did you do that? Why do you want to show your ass?'” Bottas told speedcafe.com at this month’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

“But then when I explained the charitable aspect, people understood, and we had so much fun, as you can imagine, taking these photos.”

Bottas, however, said his mother had some initial reservations.

“She doesn’t understand English really well and she had seen some videos I posted. She was quite confused and protective, asking me ‘Are you sure this is the path you want to take?’ So I explained the charity thing, and it’s okay.”