Michael Schumacher, left, has seven Formula One drivers' titles to his close rival Mika Hakkinen's two.
Michael Schumacher, left, has seven Formula One drivers' titles to his close rival Mika Hakkinen's two.

Other Sport

Schumacher's return is 'fantastic', says Hakkinen

Mika Hakkinen hails the return of his old rival and reveals he also had offers to make what would be a sensational return to the sport.

Gary Meenaghan

February 15, 2010

ABU DHABI // Mika Hakkinen, the retired two-time Formula One world champion, has hailed the return of his old rival Michael Schumacher and revealed he also had offers to make what would be a sensational return to the sport. The Finn won back-to-back drivers' titles with McLaren-Mercedes in 1998 and 1999 and, had it not been for mechanical unreliability in 2000, could have secured the first hat-trick of championships since Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s.

Instead, Schumacher won the crown with Ferrari. Hakkinen retired the following season, while Schumacher went on to dominate the sport and win five consecutive titles to complement the two he had claimed in 1994 and 1995. Schumacher, 41, returns to the F1 spotlight next month after accepting a seat with Mercedes GP, the race team formed following a takeover of last season's constructors' champions Brawn GP, and Hakkinen, also 41, said he has had similar proposals offered to him.

"My doors are definitely open in Formula One," he said. "When you are a champion, they always are, but I have made it clear to the teams that I am concentrating on the management of young drivers so these guys can, one day, become F1 drivers." But while Hakkinen has spurned the opportunity of a comeback, he says the return of the German is exactly what the sport needs and believes the former champion has the strength to shoulder the burden of expectation.

"It is great news for Formula One and great news for the fans that Michael is back. It's fantastic," said Hakkinen. "It is an unbelievable challenge what he has taken on, but he has a team behind him that is a winning team, so that alone means he will get his chan-ces [to win grands prix]. "Yes, the driver is the leader and has to motivate the team and get the best out of the car in all situations, but it's down to teamwork. You can't say a title victory is 60 per cent the driver and 40 per cent the team because it doesn't happen like this.

"It's like if you are talking about a runner; it takes maybe four years for him to win, but then people question his shoes and his coach, his nutrition. "It's the same in motor racing, when you aren't winning, nobody notices. When you finish third, fourth, fifth, people say: 'He's not doing such a good job'. "But actually, what he is doing is working very hard to become No 1. "Then when he reaches No 1 you see the results and people start asking whether it's the car or the driver."

Schumacher is looking in good shape for his return as he prepares for the new season with the Mercedes team. The team showed good pace in last week's Jerez test in Spain as they continue preparations for the new season, which starts next month in Bahrain. The German said of his and the team's progress: "We completed everything that we wanted and were able to increase our understanding of the car a step further so overall it's been positive.

"It's very tough to understand the order of the teams just yet as everyone can play so much with the fuel loads. So there is a lot of speculation going on but it is all very interesting!" gmeenaghan@thenational.ae

While you're here
Whiile you're here
What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

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Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

On Women's Day
MATCH RESULT

Al Jazira 3 Persepolis 2
Jazira: Mabkhout (52'), Romarinho (77'), Al Hammadi (90' 6)
Persepolis: Alipour (42'), Mensha (84')

More from Neighbourhood Watch

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.”

THE%20SPECS
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Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.