It is great to have so many drivers so close to each other in the standings after three races of the World Championship and hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the season.
I do think the changes that were made for this season are working as ultimately there are more points on the board to be raced for and it means that someone who has had a couple of bad races can still be a contender with one or two good results.
That is exactly what has happened to Sebastian Vettel, who looked like he was in big trouble after two mediocre results but followed up by winning in Malaysia and suddenly he has gone from being 25 points off the title lead to being two adrift.
Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for the rest of the season and we are going to see the points gap between leading drivers go to and fro throughout the year and it will all be very exciting.
Vettel was a deserving winner in Malaysia and I think he will be the favourite to win again in Shanghai this weekend as the Red Bull- Renault has looked the class of the field so far from what we have seen in the other races.
He has always gone well on that track and he won his first race for Red Bull there last year, although that was in the wet, and he will be confident of repeating that success on Sunday.
I think we could see McLaren-Mercedes come more into contention than we have seen before as their clever extra wing will be a help to them.
It should give them a big speed advantage going down the 1km back straight and also on the main straight and they will certainly look to be more competitive on raw pace.
But I still think that Red Bull will be at the front and it is looking good for both Sebastian and for Mark Webber, his teammate, although it is a completely different circuit design to Malaysia and the nature of the track will test the engine reliability of the front runners.
Ferrari will be concerned after Fernando Alonso's engine problem in Malaysia and they will be wary of that in Shanghai.
They will want to ensure they are still running at the end of the race. It is a big race weekend for Michael Schumacher as he has been well beaten in every race this season by Nico Rosberg, his younger Mercedes GP teammate.
It is a new experience for Schumacher as he was always a dominant force in the past. He has not had the testing time he would have liked to really get in tune with the car after his three years away from the sport.
He himself must be wondering if he still has it as he yet to put in a vintage Michael performance since coming back, and he needs a good showing in Shanghai to at least prove to himself that he still is quick.
It is not like he is well off the pace. He is still quick, he is just in a place that neither we or Michael are used to seeing him in. His problems have not been helped by the fact that Nico is doing a really good job and has made no mistakes.
I do not expect to see much improvement from the teams at the back of the grid.
Yes, we have seen some improved reliability in the past couple of races but there has been no real improvement in speed and I doubt we will see a leap forward in performance in Shanghai.
The Hispania-Cosworth car is the slowest and that will probably remain that way for the rest of the season.
Most of the interest will be in the battle between the Virgin- Cosworth and the Lotus-Cosworth cars.
There is nothing really between them, but Timo Glock has done a great job in the Virgin car and he will be looking to be ahead of the Lotus cars again.
Lotus have had massive reliability issues with both their cars, with hydraulic issues slowing them in Malaysia, and that is unlikely to be the kind of thing that can easily be resolved while so far away from home.
Johnny Herbert is a former Formula One driver who won three Grands Prix during his 11-year career in the sport.
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Top 5 concerns globally:
1. Unemployment
2. Spread of infectious diseases
3. Fiscal crises
4. Cyber attacks
5. Profound social instability
Top 5 concerns in the Mena region
1. Energy price shock
2. Fiscal crises
3. Spread of infectious diseases
4. Unmanageable inflation
5. Cyber attacks
Source: World Economic Foundation
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Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
88 Video's most popular rentals
Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Los Angeles, from Dh4,975 return, including taxes. The flight time is 16 hours. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Southwest all fly direct from Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo from Dh1,243 return, including taxes. The flight time is two-and-a-half hours.
The trip
Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic’s eight-day Whales Wilderness itinerary costs from US$6,190 (Dh22,736) per person, twin share, including meals, accommodation and excursions, with departures in March and April 2018.
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
The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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