The Italian tennis star in the paddock together with his girlfriend Laila Hasanovic and the president of Formula 1 Stefano Domenicali
Jannik Sinner dreamed, as a child, of becoming a Formula 1 driver. An unfulfilled dream which has changed shape over the years and which sees him today, on the day of the grand finale of this F.1 season, enter the Yas Marina paddock in Abu Dhabi as a “friend of Formula 1”, sporting ambassador of the top series of motorsport. As already happened at the end of the last championship, this year too Sinner was welcomed into the Abu Dhabi paddock on a Sunday of fun at the center of the training period spent in Dubai to prepare for the new sporting season.
the day
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The number 2 in the ATP ranking arrived in the paddock around 10.30 local time alongside his girlfriend, the Danish model Laila Hasanovic, his father, his brother and his work group. During the day the tennis player will meet the drivers and spend time alongside the president of Formula 1 Stefano Domenicali, with whom he shares a solid friendship: the CEO attended the recent final of Tonino’s Finals in Sinner’s garage, celebrating the success with him and is a member of the board of the South Tyrolean tennis player’s non-profit foundation. Also present next to Sinner in the paddock was Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli, an illustrious face of sports medicine applied to the minds of athletes in motorsport, who has also been following Sinner for some time.
meetings
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Shortly after his arrival, the Italian champion left the Formula 1 hospitality area for a tour of the paddock: he met the Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and the British driver George Russell, then filmed a short video interview walking among the team hospitality areas and taking photographs with the fans. Sinner, accompanied by his brother – a great Formula 1 fan – and his father, headed to the hot laps garage for an adrenaline-filled experience on the track.
hot lap
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Sinner, on the trackside for the hot lap, waited for the arrival of the Italian driver Kimi Antonelli: it was with him that he lapped on the Yas Marina circuit, aboard an AMG GT 63 with 585 horsepower. The two greeted each other affectionately after a first meeting at the Turin Finals in November, and after some chat they put on their helmets and took to the track together for the experience.
nel box
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At the end of the hot lap with Kimi Antonelli the two headed to the Mercedes garage, where the Italian driver showed Sinner his single-seater, explaining to him in detail how the car’s steering wheel works, answering Jannik’s many interested questions. After taking one last photograph with Kimi in front of his Mercedes, Sinner headed towards the Haas garage, where he found Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon. The three stopped to talk and the tennis player had the opportunity to meet part of the team, including Laura Mueller, Ocon’s track engineer. A moment of great emotion also for father Hanspeter, who has always been a Formula 1 fan and was present live in the paddock for the first time, and for his brother Mark, also a great fan, who had already had the opportunity to visit the paddock this year in Imola and Monza. For the Sinner family, the visit continued directly to the Formula 2 starting grid, where they witnessed the line-up of the cadet category cars.
