Fourteen months ago, Romain Grosjean's reputation in the series was at a low. A crash-filled 2012 had seen him become the first driver in 18 years to be given a race ban after he was identified, correctly, as the guilty party in the multi-car accident at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, 2013 did not start much better. The Frenchman was labelled "an idiot" by the normally placid Daniel Ricciardo after the Lotus driver missed his braking point at the chicane in Monaco and ploughed into the back of the Toro Rosso.
The calls for Grosjean to be dropped were audible around the F1 paddock, and they were not merely malicious. When he was not crashing into things, he was being out-paced by teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
But give credit where it is due. Eric Boullier, Lotus’s team principal at the time, did not take the easy route out. He publicly stood by Grosjean and whatever he privately said to his driver had the desired effect; the mistakes stopped.
Grosjean in many ways was the star of the second half of the season as Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing dominated.
He came closest to interrupting the Red Bull domination in the latter half of the season, leading 26 laps in Japan before finishing third. He was consistently quicker than Raikkonen as he finished on the podium four times in the final six races.
Grosjean had proven that if he could avoid other cars and keep the Lotus pointed in the right direction, he was one of the fastest drivers on the grid. When Raikkonen left for Ferrari this season, Grosjean effectively became the team leader and the future looked bright.
Unfortunately, the Lotus E22 chassis has arrived and optimism has turned into depression.
In hindsight, it should not have been a surprise that Lotus have been so far off the pace this year. The team’s financial problems are well known, and they also lost their technical director, James Allison, to Ferrari.
The car lacks grip and, to add to their problems, they also have the down-on-power Renault engine.
It has been a difficult season for Grosjean and Lotus, with the 28-year-old Frenchman’s eighth-place finish in Spain accounting for all four of the team’s points in 2014.
He has put a brave face on the problems. None of them are of his making, but he is the one who has to deal with them on the track. In the meantime, he wins the only fair comparison for a driver with bad machinery: he consistently outperforms his teammate, Pastor Maldonado.
However, on Sunday, cracks finally began to appear.
He had been running just outside the top 10 at the German Grand Prix when a power failure forced him to stop.
“Unbelievable,” he told his race engineers on the pit radio. “What happened again?”
He cannot be blamed for being frustrated.
He has matured, cut out the errors and become a fine driver, and his reward for that is an awful car and engine.
Given Lotus’s financial problems, it is difficult to see things improving in the remaining nine races of the season. For Grosjean, it is now about what he does next.
Lotus will be powered by Mercedes in 2015, but a good engine cannot cover up all the weaknesses of an average car. Just ask McLaren-Mercedes.
Grosjean would be wise to look around, but he might not like the options that are available to him.
Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari have their line-ups and midfield teams such as Force India and Sauber would be a step sideways.
His best chance may be if McLaren continue to be frustrated with the inability of Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, to consistently beat rookie driver Kevin Magnussen.
He has an in with McLaren, in the shape of Boullier, who is now the team principal and is a big fan of Grosjean.
The British team still hope to bring back Fernando Alonso for a second spell, but if they cannot capture the double world champion and want to make a change, they could do worse than Grosjean.
Until then, the Frenchman must deal with the agonies of driving a car doomed to finish out of the points, unless many of his rivals have problems.
His frustration is understandable, but Lotus stood by him when he seemed to believe F1 was a destruction derby. In return, he now needs to stick by them.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing
In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.
While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.
In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all).
“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”
Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.
"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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