ACCORDING TO THE WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT, compiled under the auspices of the United Nations, Finland is the happiest country in the world. The land of reindeer and lakes has topped the rankings since 2018. And although Valtteri Bottas hasn’t lived in his homeland for quite some time, he’s perfectly suited to the role of its ambassador. Because he is one happy Finn.
A trip to the North is one of his wintertime traditions. A couple of years ago Valtteri finished building a small house not far off the Arctic Circle, in one of those places where the sun remains below the horizon throughout December.
“It’s a place called Kilpisjärvi,” he tells GP Racing. “It’s [a village] at the border of Finland, Sweden and Norway. So basically, as north as you can escape. Maybe you need to check, but I believe it’s fewer than 200 people.”
He isn’t wrong, as far as we can tell. In 2000, which appears to be the last time someone visited with a clipboard, the population of Kilpisjärvi was recorded as being 114. These days, Bottas’s abode there is one of his favourite places for rest.
“It’s almost like a treehouse type of thing,” he says, calling to mind TV’s Grand Designs. “There’s like two cabins connected. One is just one bedroom upstairs. So that means no [place for] guests! And downstairs, a kitchen and a living room. And the other building is just purely a sauna and a relaxation area on top. And I have a big garage for toys, ski-doos and stuff like that.”
Our appointment with Valtteri is in somewhere similar but not quite so geographically remote – Sweden’s Pite Havsbad, 600km south of Kilpisjärvi. The Race of Champions is here for the second
