• Red Bull's Sergio Perez during final practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday, November 19, 2022. Getty
    Red Bull's Sergio Perez during final practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday, November 19, 2022. Getty
  • Sergio Perez during the third practice session on Saturday. Victor Besa / The National
    Sergio Perez during the third practice session on Saturday. Victor Besa / The National
  • Red Bull's Mexican driver Sergio Perez pits during the third practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit. AFP
    Red Bull's Mexican driver Sergio Perez pits during the third practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit. AFP
  • Lando Norris of McLaren during practice for the Abu Dhabi GP. Victor Besa / The National
    Lando Norris of McLaren during practice for the Abu Dhabi GP. Victor Besa / The National
  • Lance Stroll of Aston Martin during the third practice session. Victor Besa / The National
    Lance Stroll of Aston Martin during the third practice session. Victor Besa / The National
  • Max Verstappen of Red Bull during practice on Saturday. Victor Besa / The National
    Max Verstappen of Red Bull during practice on Saturday. Victor Besa / The National
  • Fernando Alonso at the Yas Marina Circuit. Victor Besa / The National
    Fernando Alonso at the Yas Marina Circuit. Victor Besa / The National
  • Sergio Perez during final practice at Yas Marina Circuit. Getty
    Sergio Perez during final practice at Yas Marina Circuit. Getty
  • Red Bull's Max Verstappen during practice on Saturday. Reuters
    Red Bull's Max Verstappen during practice on Saturday. Reuters
  • Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen sits in his car during the third practice session. AFP
    Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen sits in his car during the third practice session. AFP
  • Red Bull driver Max Verstappen during practice in Abu Dhabi. AP
    Red Bull driver Max Verstappen during practice in Abu Dhabi. AP
  • Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton pits during the third practice session. AFP
    Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton pits during the third practice session. AFP
  • Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton at Yas Marina Circuit. Reuters
    Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton at Yas Marina Circuit. Reuters

Sport

F1

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022: Sergio Perez on top in final practice session

Red Bull driver took another step towards championship runner-up spot at Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday

Simon Wilgress-Pipe
Simon Wilgress-Pipe

November 19, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

Sergio Perez showed he was every bit the contender for Formula One championship's runner-up position by topping Saturday's afternoon practice session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After being bettered twice by Charles Leclerc, his rival for the No 2 position, in Friday's racing, the Red Bull driver turned in a performance worthy of a podium finish in Sunday’s race.

For his part, Leclerc managed to spend some time at the top of the leaderboard, but he could do no better than sixth at the end of 60 minutes.

Perez’s time of 1:24.982 left him 0.152 seconds ahead of his nearest contender.

And that contender in question was teammate Max Verstappen, who mounted a late charge, managing to turn around a dire situation that saw him languishing at the bottom of the roster for almost the entire first half of the session.

Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell looked on course for another one-two placing, a feat they achieved in Friday’s first session, but their seniority was toppled as the session wore on.

  • England's T20 World Cup star Ben Stokes at the Red Bull Racing garage prior to final practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday, November 19, 2022. Getty
    England's T20 World Cup star Ben Stokes at the Red Bull Racing garage prior to final practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday, November 19, 2022. Getty
  • Red Bull Racing's team principal Christian Horner, centre, driver Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen with England cricketers Ben Stokes, second right, Liam Livingstone, right, and others in Abu Dhabi. AFP
    Red Bull Racing's team principal Christian Horner, centre, driver Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen with England cricketers Ben Stokes, second right, Liam Livingstone, right, and others in Abu Dhabi. AFP
  • A fan wearing Lionel Messi costume at the Yas Marina Circuit. AFP
    A fan wearing Lionel Messi costume at the Yas Marina Circuit. AFP
  • England star all-rounder Ben Stokes during the Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday. AFP
    England star all-rounder Ben Stokes during the Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday. AFP
  • FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem at Yas Marina Circuit. AFP
    FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem at Yas Marina Circuit. AFP
  • Ben Stokes during the Abu Dhabi GP. AFP
    Ben Stokes during the Abu Dhabi GP. AFP

The pair finished third and fourth.

McLaren’s Lando Norris turned in a highly serviceable performance to take fifth position, finishing just over half a second behind Perez.

Seventh place went to Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz, while Daniel Ricciardo continues to show he’s a contender with eighth place in his McLaren.

Soon-to-be retired Sebastian Vettel nudged the nose of his Aston Martin into the top 10 behind the Australian, with Williams’s Alexander Albon just behind.

The session was probably the most exciting so far, with the lead changing hands time and again.

Each of the top five placed drivers hit the top of the time charts at least once, though that time in the sun was admittedly brief for a couple of them, Verstappen included.

All eyes now await the qualifying session, which starts at 6pm on Saturday.

Tomorrow 2021
Biography

Favourite Meal: Chicken Caesar salad

Hobbies: Travelling, going to the gym

Inspiration: Father, who was a captain in the UAE army

Favourite read: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

Favourite film: The Founder, about the establishment of McDonald's

Coal Black Mornings

Brett Anderson

Little Brown Book Group 

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

How to help

Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.

Account name: Dar Al Ber Society

Account Number: 11 530 734

IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734

Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
More on this story:
The biog

Name: Mohammed Imtiaz

From: Gujranwala, Pakistan

Arrived in the UAE: 1976

Favourite clothes to make: Suit

Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550

 

UK’s AI plan
  • AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
  • £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
  • £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
  • £250m to train new AI models

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 specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Padmaavat

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh

3.5/5

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
While you're here

Company Profile 

Founder: Omar Onsi

Launched: 2018

Employees: 35

Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)

Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

While you're here
While you're here
While you're here
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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites

The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.

It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.

“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.

The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

Updated: November 19, 2022, 12:32 PM
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