{"id":515946,"date":"2026-03-03T12:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T12:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/515946\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T12:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T12:20:12","slug":"melbourne-grand-prix-valtteri-bottas-excited-to-return-to-albert-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/515946\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Grand Prix: Valtteri Bottas excited to return to Albert Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas says he wants to do well at Albert Park with his new team Cadillac to repay the Aussie crowds for making him feel at home.<\/p>\n

Bottas, the Finnish partner of cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, flew into Melbourne on Tuesday and went straight to an event in Toorak for La Roche-Posay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be back in Melbourne and back on the grid this week,\u201d he told the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a completely new team in the sport and we are making history for Cadillac as a brand. So far I\u2019ve really enjoyed it and the excitement is there for everything we do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great city and a great country and year by year I feel I\u2019ve had more support. It gives me an extra boost that I really want to do well for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottas paid tribute to Cromwell<\/a> who he met through mutual friends in Monte Carlo in 2019.<\/p>\n

The couple has just bought a vineyard in South Australia which he says is a dream come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got together in 2020 and I felt we had a connection and she got me into cycling big time,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just to keep up with her but it\u2019s something cool we can do together. A job for her but for me a hobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has no fear at all, I think cycling is more dangerous than car racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she has a helmet on she feels she can do anything, it\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottas gave congratulations to Charles Leclerc who married on Saturday in Monaco, but said he and Cromwell were too busy to give a wedding much thought.<\/p>\n

When asked if he thinks Kim Kardashian <\/a>will join Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne, he told host Carrie Bickmore: \u201cThere\u2019s a chance, it\u2019s Formula One so anything can happen. Expect the unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other guests at the La Roche-Posay event included Dyson Heppell, Matt Guelfi, Dylan Buckley, Dan Gorringe, Hattie Piastri and footy WAGs Mattie Gouman and Tash Hoole. <\/p>\n

F1 Ferrari star\u2019s secret wedding \u2014 with a major Aussie connection<\/p>\n

The rumours are true \u2014 Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has married his long-time partner in a secret wedding just days before the Melbourne Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

In a private civil ceremony in Monaco, Leclerc tied the knot with Alexandra Saint Mleux who wore her \u201cabsolute dream dress\u201d, a white off-the-shoulder lace gown by Australian designer Paulo Sebastian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pair shared images and video of their special day \u2014 enough to melt any romantic\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

Their beloved dog Leo was centre stage as they posed for stunning wedding pictures.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t wait to marry all over again next year,\u201d Saint Mleux wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

Leclerc also shared his joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cA day we\u2019ll forever remember. Part one is done and part 2 will be next year with all of our close ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speculation was rife on Monday they had secretly wed after the pair were spotted driving around the streets of Monaco in a 250 Testa Rossa from 1957.<\/p>\n

The sleek, bright red two-seater is worth around $17m and just over 30 of the cars were made across a production run between 1957 and 1961.<\/p>\n

The picturesque wedding, attended by only close family and friends, was an elegant nod to Leclerc\u2019s hometown.<\/p>\n

He wore an ivory suit for the occasion while Saint Mleux was draped in diamonds.<\/p>\n

In November the private couple revealed their engagement, which he pulled off with some help from their sausage dog \u2013 the pooch was given a collar that read \u201cDaddy wants to marry you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the perfect start to the season for Leclerc who now focuses on race one in Melbourne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas says he wants to do well at Albert Park with his new team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[257953,52491,64,63,689,257950,257963,13275,183680,2057,257951,653,246047,84776,647,927,806,805,803,804,677,257955,257961,257960,257952,257957,194449,257954,257958,85,257956,209117,660,257962,2062,257959],"class_list":{"0":"post-515946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-absolute-dream-dress","9":"tag-alexandra-saint-mleux","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-australian-designer","14":"tag-beloved-dog","15":"tag-charles-leclerc","16":"tag-dream-wedding","17":"tag-europe","18":"tag-fan-events","19":"tag-fox-sports-news","20":"tag-jackie-epstein","21":"tag-long-time-partner","22":"tag-melbourne","23":"tag-monaco","24":"tag-motor","25":"tag-motor-sports","26":"tag-motosport","27":"tag-motosports","28":"tag-oceania","29":"tag-off-the-shoulder-lace","30":"tag-off-the-shoulder-lace-gown","31":"tag-paulo-sebastian","32":"tag-picturesque-wedding","33":"tag-production-run","34":"tag-season-launch","35":"tag-secret-dream-wedding","36":"tag-secret-wedding","37":"tag-sports","38":"tag-stunning-wedding-pictures","39":"tag-travis-auld","40":"tag-victoria","41":"tag-wedding-cake","42":"tag-western-europe","43":"tag-white-off-the-shoulder-lace"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}