The plaudits are flooding in for Max Verstappen and Red Bull following victory at Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
If you include the minimal input from Sergio Perez Red Bull have won a record 12 races in a row.
It beats one of the oldest and toughest records, set in 1988 by McLaren and its legendary drivers Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
But those who reflect on that year do not go all misty-eyed over McLaren’s ability to win 11 in a row and all but one of the 16 rounds.
Their memories are of a spell binding rivalry that created one of the most enthralling championship stories of all time.
Senna and Prost were two equally driven but very different characters with different talents. But when it was all put together only tenths of a second separated them in the cockpit. 1988 was so close; Senna won eight races that year and Prost seven.
They proved (again) equal cars and drivers spell box office dynamite.
So how has the sport contrived through the decades to keep the best drivers apart?
First, it's important to note that Verstappen and Perez are no Senna and Prost.
It’s interesting to note that aside from Nico Rosberg beating Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2016 you have to go back to the days of Senna and Prost and the late 80s to find a time when the champion was beaten to a title in his own car.
Those who reflect on 1988 also point to 2007 when Fernando Alonso was paired with a rookie Hamilton and such a poisonous feud developed at McLaren it resulted in a $100 million fine, a lost world title and the Spaniard walking out on the team.
It may be a remarkable new landmark but the average fans’ reaction to Verstappen’s achievements this year is ‘meh, so what?' The processional racing of 2023 certainly won’t be remembered with the same slack-jawed awe as 1988, however many races he wins.
The mandarins of F1 appear to have forgotten it’s not the result that makes for great sport, it’s the trial and tribulation.
At F1’s inception in the 1950s, Juan Manuel Fangio won four titles on the trot with three teams. For the next 50 years no other driver won more than a couple of championships in succession.
Since the turn of the century everything has changed. Michael Schumacher won five on the trot, Sebastian Vettel four and Hamilton six titles in seven.
That’s not real sport. That’s (largely) dreary repetition.
People point to the Netflix series Drive To Survive (DTS) as vindication of the popularity of Formula One racing. But I would argue it’s just the opposite.
When all they could see was the dreary lappery with the same names at the front week after week the watching public stayed away.
But DTS peeled back the covers and exposed the human endeavour, the pain, the drama, the sacrifice and the joy. Who could fail to be engaged by that?
Of course, it’s not Red Bull’s fault they are so much better. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff sat gloomily on packing crates after the Hungary race and lamented the rest were “a field of F2 cars against an F1 [car]”. His machines finished 40 seconds adrift of Red Bull.
The fault lies in a system that will not put the best drivers together or encourage equally competitive cars.
And that’s down to FIA, and a system (that the teams collectively mastermind) which creates the framework of competition.
How can the cars be equal when the rules change more often than I change my trousers?
And each new change creates a new hierarchy and a new surge to catch up. And just as they get there it’s all change again.
And when a sport lives by who has designed the best wing flaps or undertray aero flooring no-one can see it’s bound to be this way.
In an era of cork, open-faced crash helmets and no seat belts Fangio carved out one of the greatest careers the sport has seen, winning 24 Grands Prix in eight years.
Verstappen equalled that in the past 18 months. Some say that shows the greatness of the man. But you could equally argue it also demonstrates the paucity of the sport.
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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