Bottas joke leads to lock of hair raising significant sum

A lock of Valtteri Bottas' now famous mullet has helped raise a significant sum of money for men's health charity Movember.

Bottas, who has left F1 for the time being following the expiry of his contract with Stake Sauber, featured on a trading card from Topps, the global company that specialises in such cards and collectibles.

The unique nature of Bottas' card, however, was enhanced by strands of his hair, as well as an authentic piece of his race suit.

That stemmed from a light-hearted podcast moment where Bottas joked about the popularity of his signature look and suggested including his hair on a product for fans.

The one-of-a-kind collectable was auctioned by Memento Exclusives on its F1 Authentics platform throughout November, resulting in it being sold for £4,000. 

Bottas said: "Movember is a charity that is very close to my heart and I'm pleased we were able to raise £4k for it.

"I want to thank all those who bid for a piece of my mullet and supported this crucial cause in the name of men's health.

"There are many ways to help and I'm glad we were able to come up with a creative way to contribute this amount."

Anne-Cécile Berthier, country director for Movember UK and Europe, said the organisation was "thrilled" by Bottas' efforts in championing Movember "while using his iconic moustache to raise awareness and funds".

She added: "As a charity, we work tirelessly to deliver innovative, breakthrough research and support programmes for mental health, suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer.

"A huge thank you to Stake F1 Team KICK for donating funds raised through their auction to Movember, which helps us make more strides in closing gaps in men's health outcomes so we can help stop men from dying too young."