As first years go, Valtteri Bottas is moving right along

On paper, there was nothing particularly remarkable about the qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix at the damp Montreal track in June.

Sebastian Vettel had taken pole position for Red Bull Racing. No surprise there, really. The German has proven his prowess over a single lap in his Red Bull car over the past four seasons, which have yielded four drivers’ championships.

It was the man who qualified third whose name stood out: Valtteri Bottas.

The Williams driver, in his first season in Formula One and only his seventh race weekend, was outpaced only by Vettel and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes-GP car around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, in what should be perceived as the qualifying performance of the season.

To put Bottas’s effort into context, his next-best starting position this season was 13th in Japan, last month. The race in Canada marked the only time in 2013 that he or teammate Pastor Maldonado got the struggling Williams team into the top-10 qualifying shoot-out.

Given that Bottas, the GP3 champion in 2011, has yet to score a point in his F1 career and has struggled, as has Maldonado, to fight with the midfield runners this year in an aerodynamically awkward car, how important was that Saturday in Montreal?

“It was a good opportunity for me to show what I can do and I think that was when the team saw what I am capable of when everything goes right, so that was very important for me,” the Finn said.

The performance in Canada was no fluke, as rain came down intermittently. Bottas, 24, was fourth in both the first and second sessions, before improving another spot in the final period.

“It was raining heavier in one corner compared to another and you had to adapt all the time, but we put everything together and the strategy was right,” he said.

Though he finished the race 14th, and a lap down, he had made a statement.

Canada has proven to be the brightest moment for Bottas in a miserable year for Williams, who are on target for their worst F1 season for 30 years, with the single point from Maldonado’s 10th-place finish in Hungary in July all they have for their efforts.

But despite it looking likely he will end the campaign pointless, given the car’s performance, Bottas is content with how his rookie year has gone.

“I think I have done pretty good,” he said. “I can be quite happy with my first season. I think especially the last few races, my performance has been pretty good.

“Obviously, I want to get better and I will. I think some races I have been unlucky, but for a first season I can be happy.

“But I will get better.”

Bottas served as a test driver for Williams the previous three seasons prior to his elevation to a race seat this year at the expense of Bruno Senna.

Being a F1 driver is more than just simply turning up to race 19 times a season. Bottas said he prepared for the challenge.

“There have been no real surprises because the team really gave me the opportunity to learn a lot,” he said. “Last year I travelled to every grand prix so I could really see how the season went.

“There are, of course, a lot of events and media work, appearances and stuff like that, which can be sometimes hard work, but it is what it is, and I am happy to do it as part of the job.”

Much of Bottas’s preparation for F1 was limited to simulator work and the occasional free practice session before a race as a third driver, something he did in Abu Dhabi last year.

He supports the prospect of increased testing time on a Friday at grand prix weekends starting next season, as well as more Pirelli tyre tests, which could make life in F1 easier for future drivers coming into the series.

“For me, there was not that mileage when I got to F1, and it was the maximum really a young driver can get,” he said.

“I would have preferred to drive much more, but it is what it is, so I think it would be good for young guys to get more testing and more opportunities to show what they can do.”

With only the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and races in the US and Brazil left on the calendar, the question becomes whether Bottas has done enough to remain in F1 for 2014. He is awaiting a decision from the team.

“All I can say is I would definitely love to stay with Williams, because I really think the future will be much better than what we have seen,” he said.

The Other Guys

Valtteri Bottas is not the only rookie in F1 this season. Here is a look at the four others and how they have done:

Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) 6 points

The Mexican, above, had a difficult first half of the season as Sauber struggled. He was out-qualified by teammate Nico Hulkenberg in the first 12 races of the season. He set the fastest lap of the race in Spain in May and scored his first points in F1 at Japan by finishing seventh.

Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) 0 points

After struggling against more-experienced teammate Charles Pic in the first half of the season, the Dutchman has found his pace and has been in the faster Caterham in recent races despite having no chance of scoring points. Highlight was qualifying 14th at Belgium in wet conditions.

Jules Bianchi (Marussia) 0 points

Made an immediate impact in Australia by running with midfield cars for a period. While his pace has fallen away due to Marussia’s lack of development, he has consistently out-run his teammate Max Chilton.

Max Chilton (Marussia) 0 points

The Briton has made few mistakes but has been unfortunate to be up against the highly talented Bianchi in the other car in his garage. A strong qualifying display in Japan, where he was 18th, demonstrated the speed is there. Further improvement should come – if he is on the grid next year.

gcaygill@thenational.ae

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.”

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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching