Valtteri Bottas will have a grid penalty for Sunday's British Grand Prix. Dan Mullan / Getty Images
Valtteri Bottas will have a grid penalty for Sunday's British Grand Prix. Dan Mullan / Getty Images

F1

British GP talking points: Role reversals for Bottas and Hamilton as Red Bull impress

The Mercedes-GP team have had to change the gearbox on Bottas's car, meaning the Finn will drop down the grid for Sunday's race.

Graham Caygill

July 15, 2017

Ahead of qualifying for the British Grand Prix at 4pm UAE time on Saturday, here are some talking points and things to watch for at Silverstone.

Change of fortunes at Mercedes

In Austria last weekend it was Lewis Hamilton who took the pain of a gearbox change, resulting in a five-place grid penalty. Now the boot is on the foot of his Mercedes-GP teammate Valtteri Bottas. The Finn, despite topping the times in both Friday sessions will be able to start no better than sixth for Sunday's race. It is a blow for Bottas, who had raced so well in Austria, but it should give Hamilton a free run to take the 67th pole position of his career and put himself in a strong position to revitalise his championship challenge.

Red Bull's promising pace

Red Bull Racing, particularly through Max Verstappen, were impressive in practice and very close to the pace of the Ferrari cars. The sweeping turns of Silverstone have always suited Red Bull, and Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who is bidding for a sixth successive podium this weekend, have a decent chance of being on the second row.

Best of the rest is close

Nico Hulkenberg's Renault was seventh and the fastest driver not racing a Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull. He will face stiff competition from the Williams, Force India and Toro Rosso cars to repeat that feat in qualifying, especially with the Renault engine still lacking horsepower compared to the Mercedes units.

More woe for Alonso

Given just how little grunt the Honda engine has, the fact Fernando Alonso was ninth in practice for McLaren was yet another demonstration of the fact the double world champion's talents are being wasted. He has won the British Grand Prix twice in the past, 2006 and 2011, but it will have to be a very freakish race for there to be be a third success on Sunday as he will start last due to grid penalties for changes and alterations to his Honda power unit.

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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.

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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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Match info

Athletic Bilbao 0

Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)