Valterri Bottas reveals “eating disorder” due to F1 fitness training

The veteran Alfa Romeo driver was referring to the early years of his F1 career when he was battling to meet a weight limit.

He would eat only broccoli in between long runs in 2014, his second full season, while representing Williams.

"I trained myself to be sore physically and mentally,” he told Maria Veitola. 

“Things got out of hand and became an addiction. No eating disorder was officially diagnosed, but it certainly was.

"It wasn't quite healthy. I wanted to be the best, and I thought I should do it. If the team says I have to weigh 68 pounds and I naturally weigh 73 pounds, then you do everything you can to get it."

Jules Bianchi died after an accident in 2014 - an incident which Bottas struggled with.

"I needed a psychologist to help me recover, whose first assessment of me was that I am almost like a robot who only wants to reach his goal and has no emotions at all,” he said. 

“It was startling. It's true that back then I didn't have any life other than F1."

Bottas has completed his first season with Alfa Romeo, after leaving Mercedes, a period where his future was at stake.

"Last season was again a more difficult stretch when the future was on hold and I didn't know which team I was racing for,” he said. 

“It was a big hurdle to ask for outside help.

"You think you're such a tough dude that you don't need help to be able to do things by looking in the mirror. But a professional knows how to ask the right questions and open a lot of locks."