Max Verstappen survived a late onslaught from Charles Leclerc to win Formula One’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
The world champion started third, but raced past Carlos Sainz at the opening bend before taking Leclerc in the other Ferrari on lap nine.
A ten-lap shootout following a safety car period provided a dramatic end, but Verstappen held his nerve. Leclerc took the runner-up spot with Sainz completing the podium.
Sergio Perez took fourth ahead of George Russell. Lewis Hamilton started sixth and finished in the same position after he was usurped by a freshly-shod Russell with nine laps to run.
“Strategy has not been kind to me, man,” he said over the radio. Russell has now finished ahead of Hamilton at every race bar one, with the seven-time world champion 68 points behind Leclerc after just five rounds.
The stars of sport and showbiz flocked to Florida for F1’s first race at the Hard Rock Stadium, 15 miles north of Downtown Miami.
NBA great Michael Jordan, Grand Slam champions Serena and Venus Williams, former England captain David Beckham, Hollywood’s Matt Damon and pop star Pharrell Williams led the cast on a celebrity-fuelled and manic pre-race grid.
But when the lights flicked from red to green, the initial action on track provided less entertainment.
Hamilton has won six times and sealed two of his seven titles in the land of the free. But those triumphs will feel like a distant memory for Briton’s record-breaking star.
Hamilton’s Mercedes is no longer F1’s tour de force, and by lap 20 he was already half a second behind Verstappen.
Hamilton’s getaway was strong, drawing alongside former team-mate Valtteri Bottas on the short run to the opening chicane.
But Hamilton locked up, losing a spot to Pierre Gasly before Fernando Alonso’s front right wheel made contact with Hamilton’s left rear at the opening chicane.
“I’ve been hit from behind,” said Hamilton. His race engineer Peter Bonnington replied: “I don’t think we have suffered any damage.”
Hamilton fought his way back past Alonso on lap three to move up to seventh. Three laps later, he roared past Gasly for sixth, a dozen seconds behind Leclerc.
Up front the lead changed hands at the start of lap nine when Verstappen drew alongside Leclerc on the pit straight before roaring past his championship rival.
The race plateaued before suddenly coming to life with 16 laps left when Lando Norris and Gasly collided.
Gasly ran wide at Turn 8 and Norris sensed an opportunity in their duel for 13th, but the pair banged wheels with the young Briton sent into a high-speed pirouette as his right rear tyre fell off his McLaren.
Out came the safety car, with Russell, who had yet pit for new rubber, able to take effectively a free stop.
That promoted him to seventh, a place behind Hamilton, who was on 24-lap old rubber when the safety car came in.
Bottas ran wide at Turn 8, enabling Hamilton to move up one spot, but he could not keep Russell, on fresh tyres, behind. The two Mercedes cars fought for position, but Russell made the move to deal Hamilton another blow on a season proving unforgettable for the grid’s most decorated driver.
Bottas finished seventh, with double world champion Alonso eighth. Mick Schumacher was denied his first points in F1 following a late collision with Sebastian Vettel.
“It was very hard physically, but I am incredibly happy with winning in Miami,” said Verstappen following his third victory of the campaign.
“We struggled with the tyres in the first stint and it made our race difficult," said Leclerc.
“I thought I could get Max at one point but he was too quick. It has been tight with Max since the beginning of the season and that has been great to see.”
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
THE SPECS
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE
Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
F1 line ups in 2018
Mercedes-GP Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Force India Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez; Renault Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr; Williams Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa / Robert Kubica / Paul di Resta; McLaren Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Toro Rosso TBA; Haas F1 Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; Sauber TBA
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
RESULTS
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.
Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.
Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.
Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.
25-MAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi
Defenders: Olaoluwa Aina, Abdullahi Shehu, Chidozie Awaziem, William Ekong, Leon Balogun, Kenneth Omeruo, Jamilu Collins, Semi Ajayi
Midfielders: John Obi Mikel, Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, John Ogu
Forwards: Ahmed Musa, Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru, Odion Ighalo, Alexander Iwobi, Samuel Kalu, Paul Onuachu, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze
On Standby: Theophilus Afelokhai, Bryan Idowu, Ikouwem Utin, Mikel Agu, Junior Ajayi, Valentine Ozornwafor
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
