Ferrari's chief world championship contender Felipe Massa is hoping to give the home fans at Monza plenty to cheer about on Sunday as he targets victory in the Italian Grand Prix.
The Brazilian arrives in northern Italy on a high after he inherited the win in last Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix when his title rival Lewis Hamilton was controversially stripped of the triumph by the race stewards.
The McLaren-Mercedes driver was judged to have gained an advantage from cutting a chicane while battling with Massa's teammate Kimi Raikkonen for the lead, and then failing to relinquish properly any benefit he had enjoyed from the manoeuvre.
He was given a 25-second penalty, which was added to his race time, dropping him to third
While McLaren have lodged an appeal over the decision, the attention will return to the track tomorrow with the start of free practice as Massa looks to take the championship lead outright for the first time since the French Grand Prix in June.
He trails Hamilton by two points in the standings and knows that if he is victorious on Sunday and Hamilton is second or worse he will top the championship.
But Massa says his main goal is to win in front of Ferrari's home crowd.
"I am really motivated to have a great race there, especially in front of all our home fans," he said.
While Massa comes to Italy full of confidence, the pressure is on the world champion Kimi Raikkonen who must win if he is to have any hope of retaining his title.
He is 19 points adrift of Hamilton and 17 of Massa, and with only five races left the Finn may have to help his teammate's title tilt if he does not starting making big inroads into his points deficit.
Raikkonen, who has finished on the podium for the last two years at Monza without winning the race, admits that he has to finish first in the 53-lap race.
"We'll give it all to win, for the team and for the fans," he said.
"It would be fantastic to win the Italian GP for the first time. I've got nothing to lose, so I'll give it all, going flat out."
Hamilton and McLaren are facing a herculean task to try to rebound well from their setback in Belgium.
But the British racer can take heart from the fact that McLaren dominated last year's race, with Hamilton finishing second behind his then teammate Fernando Alonso.
"It is just going to be a very tough fight," Hamilton said of the battle ahead with Ferrari in Italy.
"But I will do everything I can to make sure I come to the next race just as strong, if not stronger."
Alonso is unlikely to repeat his win from 12 months ago, driving now for the uncompetitive Renault team, but his name is still expected to be in the news this weekend as speculation continnues to grow on where he will race next year.
Honda, Ferrari, BMW and even remaining Renault are among his options.
* Reuters
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
SPECS
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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WHAT FANS WILL LOVE ABOUT RUSSIA
FANS WILL LOVE
Uber is ridiculously cheap and, as Diego Saez discovered, mush safer. A 45-minute taxi from Pulova airport to Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospect can cost as little as 500 roubles (Dh30).
FANS WILL LOATHE
Uber policy in Russia is that they can start the fare as soon as they arrive at the pick-up point — and oftentimes they start it even before arriving, or worse never arrive yet charge you anyway.
FANS WILL LOVE
It’s amazing how active Russians are on social media and your accounts will surge should you post while in the country. Throw in a few Cyrillic hashtags and watch your account numbers rocket.
FANS WILL LOATHE
With cold soups, bland dumplings and dried fish, Russian cuisine is not to everybody’s tastebuds. Fortunately, there are plenty Georgian restaurants to choose from, which are both excellent and economical.
FANS WILL LOVE
The World Cup will take place during St Petersburg's White Nights Festival, which means perpetual daylight in a city that genuinely never sleeps. (Think toddlers walking the streets with their grandmothers at 4am.)
FANS WILL LOATHE
The walk from Krestovsky Ostrov metro station to Saint Petersburg Arena on a rainy day makes you wonder why some of the $1.7 billion was not spent on a weather-protected walkway.
MEYDAN RESULTS
6.30pm Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh125,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer).
7.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Galaxy Road, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
7.40pm Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Al Modayar, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh170,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner George Villiers, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 (D)1,200m
Winner Lady Parma, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Zaajer, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
How to avoid crypto fraud
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