With all the plaudits firmly fixed in Lewis Hamilton's direction after the Mercedes-GP driver secured a fifth Formula One drivers' championship at last week's Mexican Grand Prix, there was still some consolation for rivals Ferrari.
The Italian marque have shown over the past two races they have found their pace again. Kimi Raikkonen won the United States Grand Prix three weeks ago to end a run of four wins in a row for Hamilton. Then Sebastian Vettel finished second, with Raikkonen third, in Mexico, behind race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing.
Vettel passed Hamilton on track in Mexico. But for a poor qualifying session that meant he started fourth and had to fight through the field he would have challenged Verstappen for the victory.
Granted, it's a case of too little, too late to do anything about stopping Hamilton now, whose fourth place in Mexico was enough to secure this year's championship, but encouraging enough to give Ferrari hope of mounting a serious challenge to Hamilton and Mercedes in 2019.
Ferrari can take a lot of confidence into this weekend’s penultimate round in Brazil as they look to continue their fight for the one remaining bit of silverware still on offer.
Realistically, they need a one-two finish to keep alive hopes of a first constructors’ championship title since 2008. They trail Mercedes by 55 points, with a maximum 86 still available. After Sunday’s race only the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 25 remains on the schedule. Ferrari must out-score Mercedes by at least 13 points to keep that championship alive heading to the UAE.
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Comment: Lewis Hamilton enjoys his best ever season and his dominance is set to continue
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Vettel won in Brazil 12 months ago in similar circumstances to now. Back then he had seen Hamilton win his fourth championship in Mexico but rallied with a victory at the Interlagos track, holding off Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
A repeat performance would do wonders for Vettel's confidence. His last victory, at the Belgium Grand Prix in August, feels a long time ago.
Mexico felt like a significant return to form for the four-time world champion. There was no contact with other drivers; no bad strategy calls from the team. Put simply he had a clean race and was back on the podium for only the second time since Belgium.
Red Bull and Verstappen were a class apart in Mexico, but the layout of the Interlagos circuit for Sunday’s 71-lap race, with strong engine power required, means a follow-up win is unlikely, with Mercedes and Ferrari both better suited.
Raikkonen beat Hamilton fair and square in the United States and Vettel almost certainly would have done so too had he not spun on the opening lap.
Ferrari, as a package, were resoundingly faster then Mercedes in Mexico as the German marque suffered with tyre wear issues.
A good end to 2017 with the Brazil win and then a third place in Abu Dhabi helped set Vettel up for his strongest season yet with Ferrari this year.
The 2018 campaign may have ended disappointingly for Ferrari, but six victories (Vettel 5, Raikkonen 1) is still the most notched in one season since 2008.
It is progress and the important thing now for Vettel is to get back to winning ways. He welcomes a new teammate next year with Charles Leclerc replacing Raikkonen. Vettel, 31, has consistently beaten Raikkonen in their four years together and taking a step into the unknown with Leclerc will be one more thing for the German to have to think about over the winter.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
How it works
Booklava works on a subscription model. On signing up you receive a free book as part of a 30-day-trial period, after which you pay US$9.99 (Dh36.70) per month to gain access to a library of books and discounts of up to 30 per cent on selected titles. You can cancel your subscription at any time. For more details go to www.booklava.com
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
RESULT
Manchester City 5 Swansea City 0
Man City: D Silva (12'), Sterling (16'), De Bruyne (54' ), B Silva (64' minutes), Jesus (88')
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
