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Ronaldo ‘Happy’ in Saudi Arabia, Wants Other Top Players to Join Him

Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Nassr v Al Shabab - KSU Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - May 23, 2023 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Nassr v Al Shabab - KSU Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - May 23, 2023 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
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Ronaldo ‘Happy’ in Saudi Arabia, Wants Other Top Players to Join Him

Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Nassr v Al Shabab - KSU Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - May 23, 2023 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Nassr v Al Shabab - KSU Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - May 23, 2023 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

Cristiano Ronaldo said he is happy in Saudi Arabia and hopes other big-name players will follow him to the league for the next campaign.

Ronaldo signed a 2-1/2 year contract with Al Nassr, making his debut in January.

He scored 14 goals in 16 games but it was not enough to help his side win the Saudi Pro League (SPL) title, with Al Nassr finishing second behind Al Ittihad.

The 38-year-old, who missed the final matchday due to injury, said the league was very competitive but that there were many opportunities to grow.

"We have very good teams, very good Arab players, but the infrastructure - they need to improve a little bit more."

"But I'm happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here," he added, Reuters reported.

Ronaldo said he had adapted to life at the club, though there were many differences from his time at Europe.

"In Europe we train more in the morning and here we train in the afternoon, or night. When you start Ramadan, we train at 10 o'clock in the night." he added.

Since Ronaldo's arrival, several other top players have been linked with a move to the Saudi league, with Lionel Messi receiving a formal offer to join Al-Hilal next season.

Ronaldo's former team mate and Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema has reportedly received an offer worth more than 100 million euros from Al Ittihad.

"If they are coming, big players and big names, young players, 'old players', they are very welcome," said Ronaldo.

"If that happens, the league will improve a little bit. Age is not important."

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Hamilton: Driving a Ferrari F1 Car for 1st Time Was 'Exciting and Special'

Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
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Hamilton: Driving a Ferrari F1 Car for 1st Time Was 'Exciting and Special'

Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

Lewis Hamilton drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time Wednesday and described it as "one of the best feelings of my life.”
Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.
The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather, The Associated Press reported.
“When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face,” Hamilton said of his first drive in a Ferrari since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season. “It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost 20 years later, feeling those emotions all over again.”
Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel. Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart. Hamilton's mother was among his family members on hand for the occasion.
“I've been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning, was one of the best feelings of my life,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles.
There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy's biggest sports stars, too.
After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.
“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.”
Hamilton, who arrived Monday at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team, has said he's fulfilling a childhood dream.
“I already knew from the outside how passionate the Ferrari family is, from everyone in the team to the tifosi (fans),” he said. “But to now witness it firsthand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring. That passion runs through their veins and you can’t help but be energized by it.”
F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that's eligible.
Pre-season testing for the new season's cars is from Feb. 26 through 28 in Bahrain.