Formula 1 fans couldn't help but notice an omen which seems to be pointing to the possibility of a Fernando Alonso win in Barcelona this weekend.
Of course, alongside Carlos Sainz, he is the favourite of the home crowd at the Spanish Grand Prix. And those fans cheering Alonso on the the Circuit de Catalunya will be thrilled with the results he has managed already this year.
Five podiums from six races so far mean he sits third in the drivers' standings behind only Max Verstappen and his team-mate Sergio Perez. All that has been missing so far is a race victory, with those Red Bull drivers holding a 100% record between them so far in that regard.
The fairytale outcome would be for that victory to come in front of those adoring Spanish fans. Alonso has waited 10 years to get back onto the top step of the podium in F1 – this very same event in 2013 being the last time he did so.
His next F1 win will be the 33rd of his career, which happens to be Verstappen's race number – when he's not sporting the '1' reserved for the defending world champion. So fans have been keeping an eye out for any further signs of that figure, fuelled by Alonso himself who has declared it to be a "good number".
So they were very excited when the official F1 social media accounts pointed out the fact Alonso's car is housed in garage 33 at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend. The more superstitious felt it was an omen that the 41-year-old could do something special.
"Coincidence or fate? As it was, we are waiting for Fernando Alonso's 33," declared one F1 fan. Another wrote: "This 33 thing is so hilarious but at the same time so beautifully fascinating. It's been ten years since Fernando's last win in F1, happened in this specific track in a Ferrari."
Alonso has been the man threatening the Red Bulls the most so far this season and Christian Horner was full of praise for the Spaniard last weekend in Monaco. "It was only Fernando who was able to stay in touch with Max, to keep within the pit stop window and to be dancing around that safety car window as well," he said after the race.
"It's always great leveller when the circuit is a bit damp or the conditions vary – then you see how the drivers adapt and you can see both of those two guys, they were head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
"It's great to see his confidence and the way he's driving the car. He and Max are very similar in many respects – in the way they drive and how tenacious they are, they're always pushing. You can see that they enjoy that competition as well."
