Agence France-Presse
Milan // Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are joint favourites for the Formula One world title as well as the season-opening Grand Prix in Melbourne, according to Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel.
And the 27-year-old German – who admitted he began talking with Ferrari as early as 2008 about a future move to the Italian super team – said fans may have to wait until 2016 before ending Ferrari’s eight-year wait for the world driver’s title.
Four-time world champion Vettel makes his official Ferrari debut as the 20-race season kicks off at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit on March 15.
Ferrari are hoping to end years of mediocrity with Vettel and Finnish 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, but the German believes Mercedes aces Hamilton and Rosberg are “the ones to beat”.
"It's 50-50 between them," Vettel told La Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday when asked who would be crowned world champion in 2015.
“Last year I didn’t expect Rosberg to be so strong, especially in qualifying. Then in the races he was always really close to Hamilton. For me they will be the ones to beat.”
Asked who would win in Melbourne on March 15, Vettel added: “There are two favourites, the Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Rosberg.”
Vettel joined Ferrari several months ago after five success-laden years with Red Bull, winning four consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013 as well as 38 Grand Prix.
But the German admitted that just after signing for the Austrian outfit in 2008, he was already pondering his future “dream” move to Ferrari.
Vettel said he began talking with former Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali in 2008 and after another informal “approach” from the team in 2010, he held secret talks with Ferrari at their Maranello headquarters at the end of 2012 where he met company president Luca di Montezemolo.
“From 2008 when I was with Red Bull I talked with Domenicali from time to time about what my future could be like with Ferrari,” added Vettel.
“Then in 2010 there was another approach, although nothing in black and white. In the winter of 2012-2013 I even travelled in secret to Maranello to meet Montezemolo.”
Negotiations between Ferrari and Vettel did not become formal until 2014 when the German’s five-year spell with Red Bull was capped by a season in which he became the first reigning champion not to win a race in the following season since Jacques Villeneuve in 1998.
Reliability problems with the Red Bull car forced Vettel to retire from a number of races and in October the team announced he would be departing.
Both Vettel and Raikkonen put in a series of strong performances during recent testing at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain.
But in the light of massive personnel changes within Ferrari as they look to reestablish their status as world beaters, the German has called for patience from fans expecting immediate success.
“It’s difficult to say right now how strong we are. We need to be patient,” he said. “But the car is definitely going well, both Kimi and I are happy.
“Ferrari is a team that has seen a lot of people come and go recently. We need time to adapt but sooner or later we’ll get there.
“I don’t know if it will be this year but if not then we’ll be waiting for 2016.”
sports@thenational.ae
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
AIDA%20RETURNS
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A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')
Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
The%20specs%20
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Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Dunki
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PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri