Bottas hails the power of social media over nude charity photos

Valtteri Bottas has hailed the power of social media after raising €50,000 in 24 hours by selling prints of him swimming naked in a river in Colorado last week.

Enjoying some downtime after the Miami Grand Prix, Bottas was photographed by girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell with his rear exposed to the elements as he took a dip.

The ensuing image was then turned into a poster, with 5,000 people buying a print at €10 each within a 24-hour period, ensuring that €50,000 was raised for good causes.

"I still haven't signed any!" Bottas told media including RacingNews365.com.

"Maybe at the autograph session I'll see some.

"I've only seen some photos of people taking pictures with some [posters].

"What is incredible is the power of social media. We gathered €50,000 for charity in 24 hours with a picture of somebody's bum!

"Tiffany took the photo, then we were looking at the photos in the evening, and then the next day we decided we'd like to print some and do something for charity, and then it just went live."

No further prints available

Bottas is no stranger to baring all in front of the cameras, having previously been filmed naked in a sauna in Finland during series three of Netflix's Drive To Survive.

However, in a move which may disappoint some, the Finn said there would be no further prints available, and that he wouldn't be tempted to branch out into producing t-shirts with the image on either.

"It was like a one-off thing, you know, and we decided that it's 24 hours and then never again, so the ones who got the print felt very lucky," said Bottas.