Tom Clarkson

I think it looked even more weird.

Claire Williams was on the podcast recently, and she said how much she was loving Valtteri 2.0, this version of Valtteri, and how different it was to the Valtteri she knew.

Yeah, I know.

I mean...

As a youngster, when I started in the sport, I think I was actually quite shy, very reserved, almost like just a machine, you know, who drives the car, didn't really show much emotion, didn't really allow myself to just be who I am, you know.

So I've grown a lot, I think, as a human being in the last 12 years or so.

Has this always been there or is it life experience that has brought out the colourful version of Valtteri?

I think it's always been there, you know, especially when I've been, if I look back, like a long time ago in a comfortable situation with my friends and stuff.

Where you just never saw it?

Yeah, I think so, yeah.

And yes, for sure, life experience, I've definitely opened up a lot.

For me, life is much more straightforward now than it was, let's say, even five years ago.

You know, I'm just...

i don't know seeing the big picture of life being able to have fun with certain things and not taking myself too seriously which i think is very important in your life does that make you a better racing driver i would say so you know i'm very comfortable who i am how i look how i how i drive but yeah i'm definitely speaking of racing i'm definitely starting to miss miss that part

Interestingly, in Spain last weekend, Fernando Alonso was talking about how he left the sport in 2018 and didn't initially plan to come back, but he said, I needed Formula One still.

I had to come back.

Let's talk about the year out that you're having now.

Are you in a similar place with Formula One?

You've taken a bit of a step back and are you realizing how much you want to race again?

You know, I always wanted to race, so I don't know, maybe that's the difference to Fernando.