SECOND PRACTICE
ABU DHABI // Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso both crashed during second practice for the Etihad Airways Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as McLaren-Mercedes' ominous pace suggested they will be favourites for pole position in tomorrow's qualifying session.
Vettel, who has already retained his world title before arriving at Yas Marina Circuit, slid wide at Turn 1 54 minutes into the session, with his Red Bull Racing car sliding across the run-off area and into the barriers. Fifteen minutes later, Alonso, the twice world champion, spun around as he exited the same corner and he careered backwards into the barrier, damaging the rear of his Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton, who took pole position in the 2009 race at the track, emphasised his desire to repeat that feat as he was fastest with a time of 1min 39.586secs. His McLaren teammate Jenson Button, who had been quickest in first practice, was 0.199secs off Hamilton's pace in second. Alonso and his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa were third and fourth, ahead of the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Vettel. Michael Schumacher was seventh quickest, but he set the fastest middle sector time of the day.
That section includes the two long straights, and confirmed that the Mercedes-GP, with its renown strong straightline speed, will be a factor in the race.
FIRST PRACTICE
ABU DHABI // Jenson Button topped the times in a busy first practice session for Sunday's Etihad Airways Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 2009 world champion set a quickest time of 1min 40.466secs in his McLaren-Mercedes during the 90-minute session at the Yas Marina Circuit.
As has been the story of the season it was the Red Bull Racing and McLaren cars who were the class of the field.
Button finished just 0.126secs ahead of Mark Webber's Red Bull, with Lewis Hamilton, Button's teammate, third.
Sebastian Vettel, who has already retained his drivers' world title, was fourth quickest, almost half-a-second off Button.
It was an interesting session for Ferrari as both drivers had spins. Felipe Massa lost his car under braking for Turn 1 as he touched the kerb, while Fernando Alonso was left facing the wrong way at Turn 6 as the back end of his car stepped out on him.
Both drivers were able to rejoin the track after their incidents, although Alonso twice had to run wide at Turn 9 as the double world champion struggled to find the limits of the track on his way to being fifth quickest.
A number of drivers ran wide as dust made grip levels tricky.
Rubens Barrichello's Williams suffered a fall in oil pressure and slowed on track on his first attempt at setting a competitive lap time, and the Brazilian was forced to stop on track at Turn 11 and sit out the rest of the session.
The second practice session begins at 5pm.
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
more from Janine di Giovanni
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Sting & Shaggy
44/876
(Interscope)
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
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In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
