iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
As UAE marks 2023 as the Year of Sustainability, companies in the UAE are coming up with novel ideas to contribute to efforts combating global warming
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Ferrari's Sainz eyes maiden F1 win in front of Spanish home crowd
The last time Ferrari won in Spain, where overtaking can be a challenge, was with a Spanish driver — twice world champion Fernando Alonso in 2013
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. — Reuters
Carlos Sainz has yet to step up as a Formula One winner but Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix is a chance for the Ferrari driver to make a dream come true, in front of a capacity home crowd, and end a 146-race wait.
He has a winning car, with teammate Charles Leclerc taking two of five races this season and leading the championship, and plenty of hope.
“To do it at my home Grand Prix would be the best ever,” Sainz told reporters at the Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday. “I keep thinking about it, keep dreaming about it.
“When I was 10 years old I dreamed about being a Formula One driver, and it happened. Then I dreamed about being a Ferrari driver and it happened.
“It’s what motivates me, it’s what makes me train at 7am and push like crazy. I’m thinking about it, but not obsessed,” added the 27-year-old, who has been on the podium three times this year including second in the Bahrain opener.
The last time Ferrari won in Spain, where overtaking can be a challenge, was with a Spanish driver — twice world champion Fernando Alonso in 2013.
Alonso, now with Renault-owned Alpine, is the only Spanish F1 driver to have won at home and he too will have plenty of support as the fans return in numbers after two pandemic-hit years.
Leclerc is 51 points ahead of Sainz but only 19 clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, a situation that leaves open the question of team orders being imposed although the season is still young. Leclerc and Verstappen have won every race, with the tally 3-2 in the Dutch driver’s favour, and the two will likely be going wheel to wheel again.
The race marks the real start of the European season, despite the one at Italy’s Imola circuit last month, and is the point at which teams pump up development. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto has spoken of “important” upgrades to close a performance gap to Red Bull.
Verstappen is chasing a third successive win, after Imola and Miami, for only the second time in his career and at the circuit where, at 18, he became Formula One’s youngest winner in 2016.
“Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going from the last few races with a clean start from Friday onwards,” said the Red Bull driver.
Champions Mercedes are also hopeful of progress after a tough start.
“A huge amount of hard work has been going on in the factories to unpick the data from Miami and turn it into improvements for Barcelona,” said team boss Toto Wolff.
“Having run there in winter testing, albeit with a car that has evolved a lot since then, it will be a good place to correlate the information we have on the current car and we’re hopeful that we’ll make another step forward.”
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton has won six times in Barcelona, including the last five, but his hopes of celebrating another victory look slim.
More news from
Ru'ya Careers Fair 2023: A Confluence of Government and Industry Voices on Emirati Employment in the Private Sector
Shortly after the couple shared their official wedding pictures, friends and family members flooded the comments section with their love and blessings
The Lankan leg-spinner was the leading wicket-taker in the last two T20 World Cups
A small group of elderly Filipino women hope their government will finally acknowledge their wartime ordeal by creating a compensation fund
OWRealty's holistic approach seamlessly blends technology, customer-centric solutions, and international reach
Residents say they are waiting for the cooling process to be completed so that they can go back to their apartments