Even just a couple of weeks ago it would have been reasonable to ask if the Age of Lewis Hamilton was over and the era belonging to Max Verstappen already in full flow.
The Mercedes driver, a record-equalling seven-time world champion, had not won a grand prix in 12 months while the Dutchman stormed to back-to-back titles.
Two championships in a row in themselves suggest a changing of the guard, especially the fashion of the one finishing Sunday in Abu Dhabi: with a record number of victories in the most dominant season in the sport’s history.
Formula One’s history is dotted with such transfers of power. The Ayrton Senna era was followed by one lorded by Michael Schumacher from 1994, then Fernando Alonso in 2005 and Lewis Hamilton from 2008.
And now it’s Verstappen’s turn, or so it seemed until Mercedes threw a spanner in the works at Interlagos, where George Russell stormed to his maiden F1 victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix followed in second by teammate Hamilton.
It was not just that they won but the utter, sudden, devastating superiority, of the 1-2 providing some evidence the page of history had not, quite yet, fully turned on them.
There is no question, of course, that as drivers Verstappen and Hamilton share a fiercely fast and pugnacious calibre.
Hamilton is a carefully manicured creation, well-financed and fully refined at each level of competition before the next step towards F1 was allowed, then making his debut off the back of the most comprehensive winter testing programme the sport has ever seen.
Verstappen, on the other hand, arrived in F1 less than 12 months after his final kart race. A desperate throw of the dice by a Red Bull team at a crossroads, gambling on a talented 17-year-old.
Hamilton won his first title in his second F1 season, aged 23. Verstappen had to wait seven years but was still only 24. The second came a shade under 10 months later, nine days after his 25th birthday. Hamilton’s took another six years. He was 29.
That is why Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is so much more fascinating. Not just a watershed between two generations of titans but a clash of cultures that created them, Mercedes’ motor racing aristocracy versus Red Bull’s rebels.
Until recently Hamilton’s 2022 results have had all the hallmarks of a veteran in decline: fading form and uncharacteristic errors.
It was clear the car, unloved as it was, was capable of more because new teammate Russell was proving it.
As the season has gone on speculation mounted we had seen the last of the blistering performances that moulded a seven-time champion.
Just before the summer break Hamilton rediscovered much of his mojo but at the restart it was more of the same.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari fumbled their championship chance and a ruthless Verstappen didn’t have to be asked twice.
From Imola he won seven times in 10 races. After the summer interlude there were six wins in eight to tuck away the drivers and constructors championships. His error-free speed as remarkable as it was relentlessness.
Then on Sunday the Hamilton of old re-emerged. The scent of a chance allied to a suddenly, and mysteriously, competitive car was enough to produce the old fire. Mercedes were as surprised as anyone by their own competitiveness.
But a bigger hurdle had already emerged for Red Bull in the shape of 'Costcapgate'. A self-inflicted own goal tainting their 2022 title as much as the first had been, but in a different way.
Whether Red Bull overspent knowingly or not, as they maintain, is a moot point. Either way it leaves a postscript that will live like an unwelcome smell in the history books.
A year ago here on Yas Island, Michael Masi made a mistake under pressure that poisoned Red Bull’s achievement unjustly. Most would admit Verstappen was champion in spirit anyway.
This year the Dutchman was setting the record straight until the FIA ruled his team had broken the rules. The $7m fine was a papercut compared to the research penalty. It remains to be seen if Red Bull can engineer a car so superior it can nullify the 10 per cent development handicap.
If it does, some would say, it is no punishment at all. Otherwise the momentum of the past two years that could have been the foundation of a new era of domination have been thrown away over a £432,652 ($509,030) overspend.
The racing gods, it appears, have tilted 2023 in favour of Mercedes as Ferrari’s key rival. But Sunday will prove whether they are any closer to taking advantage of the shifting scales and can delay the changing of the guard.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
