How to change new tab in safari to blank page than default apple.com

Hi,

I recently saw that apple is forcing me to open www.apple.com every time I am opening a new tab. I tried to change it to blank from the settings. Unfortunately, Safari is not letting me to change the option new table open with blank page instead of the homepage. It's very irritating to see that apple is delaying my search by intentionally forcing me to visit their home page. I don't need your add as I have been using your product for long time. I will stop using Safari if you don't fix the issue and will use some other browser.

Thanks