Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the inaugural Saudi Arabia Grand Prix after title rival Max Verstappen hit the wall at the last corner on his final lap in qualifying.
The British driver, eight points behind with two races to go, was joined on the front row by Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen qualified third at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
With just two races left, the Red Bull driver can claim his first world title on Sunday if he wins the race and Hamilton finishes outside the top six.
If not, the 2021 title battle will go down to the wire at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend.
For Hamilton, who has cut Verstappen's championship lead with successive wins in Brazil and Qatar, it was a fifth pole of the season and 103rd of his career.
"What a tough track this is. It's amazing what they've built, the speed and the pace around here is phenomenal," said Hamilton.
"It's a great result for the team and a great job by Valtteri - he's the best teammate there's ever been in this sport, for sure.
"We were so quick on Friday but for some reason in final practice and qualifying just lacking pace and struggling with the tyres, so to get a one-two, this is a great result," Hamilton added.
"Those guys were so fast. Those Bulls were incredible round this track."
Verstappen hit the wall on the exit of the final corner when he looked set to displace Hamilton from the front of the grid. He was on what looked a superb lap but was late on the brakes for Turn 27 and slid wide on the exit and broke his rear suspension.
Verstappen climbed from his damaged Red Bull and walked down the street circuit shaking his head in dismay. He then climbed through a hole in the safety fencing, caught a ride in the backseat of the safety car and returned to the paddock.
There will also be questions as to whether Verstappen might have damaged his car's gearbox. If it needs replacing, he will take a five-place grid penalty and drop from third to eighth.
"It is of course terrible," Verstappen said. "It was a good qualifying. I knew the pace was there, I don't really understand what happened but I locked up, clipped the wall and had to stop.
"P3 is a bit disappointing but the car is quick and let's see what we can do in the race."
Hamilton earlier was summoned before the stewards for violating yellow flag rules in practice, but the British driver was not penalised. He was later issued a warning, though, and Mercedes were fined £25,000 ($33,000).
Verstappen was hit with a five-place grid penalty for failing to respect double-waved yellow flags during qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix last month.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull made up the top five for Sunday's race, the first to be held in the kingdom.
Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), Lando Norris (McLaren), Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) complete the top 10.
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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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.”
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
