Max Verstappen denied Lewis Hamilton the first sprint win of his career after passing his rival to win at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.
Hamilton started second at the Shanghai International Circuit, beat pole-sitter Lando Norris off the line and took control of the 19-lap charge to the chequered flag.
However, Verstappen, who started fourth, ended Hamilton's dream of re-entering the winner's enclosure for the first time in 867 days when he sped past the Mercedes driver on the ninth lap.
Verstappen crossed the line 13 seconds clear of Hamilton with Sergio Perez taking third.
McLaren's Norris started on pole position but slid wide on the opening lap as he battled with Hamilton and ended up sixth. Team mate Oscar Piastri was seventh and Mercedes' George Russell eighth for the final point.
Verstappen struggled initially before passing Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who retired with a puncture and damage after a wheel-banging battle with Sainz, on lap seven and then Hamilton two laps later.
"The first few laps were quite hectic, they were pushing quite hard at the front and of course I had Carlos behind with new tyres so it was very difficult initially," said Verstappen.
"But then we became stronger and I felt a bit more comfortable with the balance of the car as well and I could look after my tyres so very pleased with that."
Seven-times world champion Hamilton said the team had made a huge step forward with their first top-three finish of the campaign.
"That's the best result I've had in a long time," said the 39-year-old Briton.
"I found out a lot about the car through this short stint, from the race, so I'm excited for tomorrow."
Qualifying for the main race was scheduled later on Saturday and Hamilton did not expect Mercedes to be battling for pole.
"We're still not as quick on a single lap as the Ferraris, Red Bulls," he said. "I think the McLarens are ahead of us for sure and possibly the Astons.
"I don't anticipate we will be fighting for the front row, but the fortunate thing is we can make some adjustments so hopefully I can improve the car in the next three hours and have a better qualifying session than we have had in the past."
On the first Chinese Grand Prix weekend since 2019, huge crowds turned out to see Shanghai native Zhou Guanyu, China's first F1 driver, make his home debut.
Tickets for Sunday's main race sold out in minutes and fans had plenty to cheer Friday when Zhou propelled his Sauber into the top 10 in a wet sprint qualifying session.
He started from 10th and in dry conditions for the race and moved up one place after the opening skirmishes.
Zhou finished just out of the points in ninth after being passed by Russell, who was 11th on the grid and the only driver to start on soft tyres.
The 24-year-old Zhou has been behind the wheel in F1 since 2022, scoring a point on his debut at Bahrain that year, but had to wait till his third season to race on his home circuit.
Later in the day, Hamilton endured far more difficulties as he qualified a lowly 18th for the Chinese Grand Prix.
A few hours after Hamilton's morale boosting effort in print, the 39-year-old was brought crashing back down to earth when he was eliminated in the opening phase of qualifying.
The seven-time world champion locked up at the penultimate corner on his fastest lap, and he finished in the Q1 knockout zone.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff looked to the heavens after Hamilton's fate was confirmed.
"Sorry guys," Hamilton said over the radio.
Triple world champion Verstappen took pole position, 0.322 seconds ahead of Red Bull team mate Perez with Aston Martin's Alonso third.
Verstappen clocked a fastest lap of 1 min 33.660sec to cap a perfect day after earlier winning the sprint race in Shanghai.
Test series fixtures
(All matches start at 2pm UAE)
1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday
2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18
3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31
4th Test Manchester from August 4-8
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.”
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
Schedule:
Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles
The specs: 2018 Honda City
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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