F1 practice times: Max Verstappen turns 19, then zips along ‘looking strong’ for Red Bull

Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix Practice 1 & 2 times

P2: 1 Hamilton 1:34.944; 2 Rosberg +0.233; 3 Vettel +0.661; 4 Raikkonen +0.898; 5 Verstappen +1.093; 6 Perez +1.340; 7 Alonso +1.352; 8 Ricciardo +1.393; 9 Hulkenberg +1.446; 10 Button +1.771; 11 Sainz Jr +1.892; 12 Palmer +1.996; 13 Bottas +2.072; 14 Gutierrez +2.104; 15 Massa +2.166; 16 Kvyat +2.353; 17 Ericsson +2.505; 18 Nasr +2.603; 19 Magnussen +2.720; 20 Grosjean +2.845; 21 Wehrlein +2.934; 22 Ocon +3.046

P1: 1 Rosberg 1:35.227; 2 Hamilton +0.494; 3 Raikkonen +1.088; 4 Vettel +1.104; 5 Alonso +1.283; 6 Ricciardo +1.526; 7 Verstappen +1.746; 8 Hulkenberg +2.286; 9 Perez +2.374; 10 Button +2.386; 11 Kvyat +2.620; 12 Bottas +2.634; 13 Grosjean +2.659; 14 Gutierrez +2.694; 15 Sainz Jr +2.828; 16 Nasr +2.957; 17 Ericsson +3.086; 18 Massa +3.112; 19 Palmer +3.921; 20 Ocon +4.809; 21 Wehrlein +5.400; DNF Magnussen

// Teenager Max Verstappen blew out the candles on his 19th birthday cake Friday, calmly zipped up his overalls and propelled his Red Bull to fifth fastest in practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

“Formula One is where I always want to be so it’s nice to spend my birthday here,” said the youngest ever Formula One points scorer.

He then revealed he would be treating himself to a slice of that cake. “I can enjoy some birthday cake because it’s so hot at Sepang I’ll lose the kilos anyway,” he told reporters, smiling.

The youngster preferred to talk about his practice performance, which he said was “fun”, rather than his advancing years. “Both sessions were pretty good,” he said.

“The first practice you just had to build up to it, especially with the new tarmac, you have to get to grips with the car.

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“I enjoyed the new surface, it seemed to have quite a bit more grip. Before, in Malaysia, we seemed to struggle with traction but the changes they have made here appear to have helped. I also think it is a lot more fun to drive.”

The dominant Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were quickest in both sessions but Verstappen was just a few tenths of a second behind the two Ferraris, and was especially pleased with his long runs.

“Our short runs need to get a bit better but the long runs are looking strong,” said the Dutchman. “The pace on the soft tyre felt decent, I feel like that tyre has potential on a long run and it allowed me to throw the car into the corners like I wanted to.

“It’s hard to tell where other drivers are on the first day but Sebastian (Vettel) looks strong, so we need to improve our short run in order to be competitive.”

Verstappen's teammate Daniel Ricciardo was only eighth in Friday's second practice, behind the Force India of Sergio Perez and the McLaren of Fernando Alonso.

But he believes Red Bull can cut the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes in qualifying on Saturday.

“Mercedes we don’t have to explain, as we knew they would be quick, and I thought Ferrari would be a bit quicker here,” said Ricciardo. “I think, all going well, we can get closer to that.”

*Agence France-Presse

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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

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The biog

Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology

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Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur

How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993

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Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”