• Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is interviewed after winning the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom to claim his 100th F1 victory, on Sunday, September 26. Reuters
    Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is interviewed after winning the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom to claim his 100th F1 victory, on Sunday, September 26. Reuters
  • Lewis Hamilton celebrates after the race. EPA
    Lewis Hamilton celebrates after the race. EPA
  • Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on his way to victory in Sochi. AFP
    Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on his way to victory in Sochi. AFP
  • Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton crosses the line to win in Sochi. Reuters
    Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton crosses the line to win in Sochi. Reuters
  • Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who finished third. Getty
    Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who finished third. Getty
  • McLaren driver Lando Norris ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes. AP
    McLaren driver Lando Norris ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes. AP
  • Rud Bull's Max Verstappen who finished second despite starting the race in last. Getty
    Rud Bull's Max Verstappen who finished second despite starting the race in last. Getty
  • Alpine's Fernando Alonso who finished sixth. Reuters
    Alpine's Fernando Alonso who finished sixth. Reuters
  • McLaren's Lando Norris who finished seventh. Reuters
    McLaren's Lando Norris who finished seventh. Reuters
  • McLaren's Lando Norris leads the pack at the start of the race. EPA
    McLaren's Lando Norris leads the pack at the start of the race. EPA

Lewis Hamilton becomes first F1 driver to 100 wins after Russian Grand Prix victory


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Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to reach 100 wins after claiming a dramatic victory in the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday.

McLaren's Lando Norris appeared to be heading for a maiden victory and was on course to become the youngest British F1 winner.

But the race turned on its head with just eight laps remaining when rain arrived. Hamilton moved to the wet tyres with four laps left, but Norris stayed out on slick rubber after telling his McLaren team he did not want to stop.

However, the decision came back to haunt the young Englishman as the rain increased and he was unable to keep his McLaren on the track.

Hamilton went on to reach his century of wins, ahead of Max Verstappen, who secured second place despite starting from the back of grid, with Carlos Sainz completing the podium. Norris eventually came home in eighth.

"It's taken a long time to get to 100 wins," Hamilton said, after his first win since the British GP in July. "I wasn't even sure it would come. The team made such a good call at the end. I didn't want to let Lando go. I'm incredibly grateful to all these men and women here and back in the factory. Wow, 100.

"Going to bed last night, with the job that I did yesterday, there were subtle little mistakes. I was so determined to do the best job I could. It was tough.

"Max must have done a good job to get up to second. The rain came and it was opportunistic and great call by the team."

Hamilton, though, admitted he was disappionted for his countryman Norris. "Lando did such an amazing job, he had such incredible pace. He's doing such a great job for McLaren - this was bittersweet." Hamiltion added. "It's nice to see my old team ahead."

Verstappen admitted he was as surprised as anyone by the result, which was helped by the early decision to switch to intermediate tyres. "To come from last to second is very, very good," the Dutchman said.

"The race itself was not very easy, because it was very difficult to pass and when you get stuck it is easy to damage your tyres. Luckily the rain helped us to make that last jump.

"With the penalty we had to only lose one spot is definitely not too bad. When I woke up this morning I definitely didn't expect this result.

"From the back a lot of things happen in the first lap and even in the first stint with a lot of cars fighting each other. You just have to stay clean and I think we managed did that pretty well and then the crucial call to go to the inters worked out."

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.”

The Laughing Apple

Yusuf/Cat Stevens

(Verve Decca Crossover)

TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Cameron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Worthington%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Sigourney%20Weaver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Updated: September 26, 2021, 2:42 PM