GREATER NOIDA, INDIA // Mark Webber said he wants neither help nor sympathy from his Red Bull Racing team as he aims to become the first winner of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix this afternoon.
Sebastian Vettel, the Australian's teammate, has won 10 of this season's 16 races, while Webber has not finished on top of the podium since the Hungarian Grand Prix in August 2010.
Christian Horner, the team principal, said earlier this week that the priority was now ensuring the 35 year old wins a race and finishes second in the drivers' championship. He trails McLaren-Mercedes' Jenson Button in the drivers' championship by 13 points with three races left.
Vettel secured his 13th pole of the season yesterday at Buddh International Circuit, with Webber finishing 0.330 seconds behind in third.
Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren driver, split the Red Bull pair, but will start in fifth after being handed a grid penalty by race stewards following Friday's morning practice session. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari will instead now start in third.
"Nothing will be different," said Webber when asked how the team will change strategy to allow him a victory. "There has been a lot of talk from the team, but nothing from me. I don't want any positions off Sebastian for the remainder of the year."
When Vettel was asked what he might do if leading a one-two finish, the 24-year-old German was coy.
"First we have to race, race hard, enjoy and then see where we are," said the two-time world champion. "I think Mark and myself, we obviously target to win the race. Ideally, we want to finish in one-two, so it is going to be interesting."
Hamilton remained positive, despite his penalty setback. "The penalty was a silly mistake for myself, but overtaking should be easier and I'm still optimistic regardless of where I start," he said.
Felipe Massa completes the top six in his Ferrari despite damaging his car on a kerb late in the qualifying sessions.
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Armies of Sand
By Kenneth Pollack (Oxford University Press)
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
RESULT
Arsenal 2
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 45 4'
Eddie Ntkeiah 51'
Portsmouth 0
All about the Sevens
Cape Town Sevens on Saturday and Sunday: Pools A – South Africa, Kenya, France, Russia; B – New Zealand, Australia, Spain, United States; C – England, Scotland, Argentina, Uganda; D – Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Wales
HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Live: On beIN Sports HD
