Charles Leclerc delighted his home crowd by securing pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Ferrari driver, born and raised on Monte Carlo’s famous streets, held his nerve to deliver an almighty lap under pressure as teammate Carlos Sainz joined him on the front row.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez will start third, with Max Verstappen, who leads Leclerc by six points in the championship standings, fourth.
“It is very special,” said Leclerc. “I am so incredibly happy. It has been a very smooth weekend. I knew the pace was in the car and I just had to do the job.”
Rain is forecast to hit Sunday’s race, but Leclerc added: “Dry weather is more predictable but whatever comes, we are competitive so we will be fine.”
The running was red-flagged with 30 seconds remaining when Perez spun into the wall on the entrance to the tunnel with Sainz then collecting the Mexican’s Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton finished a disappointing eighth, two places behind George Russell in the other Mercedes.
Lando Norris has been battling tonsillitis this weekend, but the British driver qualified an impressive fifth in his McLaren.
Leclerc put his Ferrari on pole last year before crashing out in the final moments of qualifying. The damage sustained in the accident meant he was unable to start the race.
But fast-forward 12 months and the 24-year-old will begin Sunday’s 78-lap race as the firm favourite to take to the top step of the podium, and possibly usurp Verstappen as the championship leader, with 13 of the last 20 races staged here won from the front.
Leclerc beat Sainz to top spot by more than two tenths, while Verstappen was three tenths adrift of his title adversary.
Explaining the dramatic conclusion to qualifying, Sainz, who finished 0.225 seconds behind Leclerc, said: “Perez crashed in front of me.
“I was on my flying lap, I saw the yellow flag, I hit the brakes and tried to avoid him the best I could.
“It is a shame because we had good pace and I was building up for pole. We will never know if it would have happened or not. It is impossible to say.”
Hamilton’s revival at Barcelona a week ago looks set to be short-lived following a troubling weekend in his underperforming Mercedes.
Monte Carlo’s narrow and twisty streets represent a unique challenge and it does not suit the Silver Arrows. Hamilton was 1.184 secs off Leclerc’s pace and four tenths behind his teammate.
Q1 was suspended for a handful of minutes when Yuki Tsunoda clipped the wall as he entered the Nouvelle Chicane.
The Japanese driver was able to limp back to the pits, but Portuguese race director Eduardo Freitas elected to red-flag the running.
That led to an almighty scramble when the session resumed with a little over two minutes remaining, with Pierre Gasly the biggest casualty as he failed to post a speedy lap before the chequered flag fell.
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When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
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