Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton after taking pole position for the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom. AFP
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton after taking pole position for the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom. AFP
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton after taking pole position for the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom. AFP
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton after taking pole position for the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom. AFP

F1

'It was one of the worst qualifying sessions' - Lewis Hamilton grabs dramatic pole at Russian Grand Prix

Thousands of fans turn up at the Sochi Autodrom

The National

September 28, 2020

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Lewis Hamilton survived a dramatic qualifying session to put Mercedes on pole position for the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton came within less than a second of falling at the second hurdle – after Sebastian Vettel crashed out in his Ferrari – before making it though to Q3.

The world champion finished 0.563 seconds clear of Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the Sochi Autodrom, with Valtteri Bottas third.

Hamilton will join Michael Schumacher with the most number of victories in Formula One history should he win for a 91st time on Sunday.

However, his pole lap is subject to an investigation with the Briton summoned to see the stewards for allegedly ignoring the race directors' instructions.

Vettel's high-speed crash in Q2 led to the most exciting qualifying session of the season in front of thousands of fans as spectators returned to watch F1 for the first time this year.

The quadruple world champion lost control of his Ferrari through Turn 4 before slamming into the barriers.

Charles Leclerc was running behind his team-mate and almost collected Vettel, who rebounded off the wall and into the middle of the road.

"Oh my God... that was very very close," said Leclerc as he ran over Vettel's debris.

The session was red-flagged with just two minutes and 15 seconds of Q2 remaining. Hamilton was only 15th after his time was deleted for exceeding track limits.

Lewis Hamilton's tense qualifying session was witnessed by thousands of fans at the Sochi Autodrom. AFP
Lewis Hamilton's tense qualifying session was witnessed by thousands of fans at the Sochi Autodrom. AFP

The cars lined up in the pit lane ahead of the restart and Hamilton was eighth in the queue. The British driver then provided himself with an even greater challenge after he ran off the track as he left the pits on cold tyres.

The message arrived from his race engineer Pete Bonnington to get a move on, but Hamilton executed the timings to perfection, crossing the line with less than one second to go, affording him clean air in his one attempt at progressing to Q3. Hamilton finished fourth and a shock second-stage exit was avoided.

Hamilton then returned to post a dazzling lap to secure pole 96 of his career.

"Firstly, I have got to say hi to all the fans that are here," said Hamilton. "I have missed them this year and I cannot tell you how great it is to see people.

"It was one of the worst qualifying sessions with my heart in the mouth the whole way.

"The time was taken away from me after I ran wide. I wanted to stay out and do a banker lap but the team told told me to come in and then the red flag came out.

"It is nice being on pole but here is the worst place because of the tow to the opening corner so I am most likely to get passed at the start tomorrow."

Sergio Perez finished fourth for Racing Point ahead of the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo. Carlos Sainz was sixth for McLaren, with Lando Norris two spots further back in the other car.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start outside the top 10 in 11th, while George Russell continued to impress, qualifying 14th for Williams.

Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

While you're here

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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