MQ: Italian blood and passport
“Driving in Monte Carlo is like riding a bicycle in your living room,” he thundered Nelson Piquet on the podium of the Principality. The geographical coordinates change, but the most accurate answer to the question remains “What does racing an F4 race at the Dubai Autodrome mean to you?”
My name is Matteo Quintarelli, I'm 16 years old, I live in Dubai and I race for the Saintéloc team in the F4 United Arabian Emirates Championship and the Spanish F4 Championship. In this space I will tell you what it means to wear gloves, lower the visor and share a single objective with 30 others: first position.
I chose to start from the concept of “running home” because it has a very particular meaning for me. I have Italian blood and passport, but I was born in Lima, Peru, where I lived until the age of 4. Subsequently 2 years in Mozambique; 6 in Bahrain and then Dubai. Home. Here I feel like a “local”, “family”. Clearer now, right? Here, let's move on to the sporting side.
The UAE championship traditionally opens the F4 racing season. From January to March, in fact, the F4 Motor Valley moves 4,000 km further than Italy and the cold European winter gives way to the decidedly “milder” one of the United Arab Emirates. In short, the jacket is certainly not the most worn item in these parts.
Climate aside, the one for convenience we abbreviate with “F4 UAE”, is unique in its kind for another characteristic: the fact that, contrary to what happens in Europe where most nations have their own reference series, the F4 UAE includes all the drivers in a single series. Netflix he would call it F4 World Championship… it's actually the only opportunity to race the car from January to February. So much so that the teams use the opportunity to test the new drivers, the new staff and get back into the “pace” of competitive competition.
During the year I spend most of my time in Europe, because of the races, therefore, these two months are a way to feel “at home”… doing what I like most. Would you call it an extra stimulus? Wrong. It's a “different” stimulus, and every now and then different stimuli are good.
The results? They were good, several times in the top-5, consistently in the points, with the podium just a whisker away on more than one occasion. And I hope to talk to you about this in the next “pages”… see you soon!
MQ
Photo: Dutch Photo Agency
#Quintarelli #racing #home #Dubai #Autodrome
