A perfectly-executed one-stop strategy gave Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button a one-two finish at the Italian Grand Prix yesterday, as Brawn GP all-but wrapped up the Formula One constructors' championship.
Brawn's maximum points haul confirmed their mid-season wobble is well and truly over, but the team's first one-two since Monaco, however, has only further complicated an already intriguing drivers' title showdown.
With the Red Bull pair of Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber, finishing eighth and retired, respectively, Barrichello's third career win at Monza ensures the drivers' fight is now effectively a two-man - and one team - race.
Barrichello's clinical win comes only three weeks after he returned to the podium summit in Belgium, and authenticates the Brazilian's title credentials. He is now only 14 points behind Button with four Grands Prix remaining.
Driving with confidence and skill throughout, Barrichello - starting fifth on the grid - roared past McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen at the start before pulling clear to clinch the win in the race's critical middle section.
Despite being laden with fuel, Barrichello left Button in his wake and the final 10 laps were little more than a victory procession.
With Barrichello on the march, Button's return to the top end of the F1 points could not have been more timely.
The Briton, who has struggled for form since dominating the year's first five rounds and building a seemingly insurmountable lead, now faces a gripping final furlong battle with his Brawn teammate.
While Button has the reassuring cushion of a healthy lead, he will be aware he has been unable to match Barrichello's speed in recent races. With his nearest rival closing the gap again yesterday, Button leaves the European section of the F1 season under renewed pressure to clinch a maiden world title.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, running on a two-stop plan, suffered a spectacular crash on the final lap to throw away the final podium place.
Exiting the first Lesmo curve, the world champion seemed to skid and slam into the inside barrier, handing third place to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton had exploded off the grid and, buoyed by a lighter fuel load, posted most fastest lap times in the first quarter of the race. However, Brawn's one-stop strategy told; Hamilton was restricted to third the moment the Brawn pair emerged from their sole pit stop in striking distance.
Raikkonen, who had been embroiled in a tight fourth-place tussle with Adrian Sutil, has now steered his improving Ferrari to a podium finish in each of the last three races.
Sutil, who started on the front-row, struggled to find a way past Raikkonen throughout the race, and fifth-place seemed his likely reward. Hamilton's eleventh hour misery, however, propelled the Force India driver in to an unexpected fourth.
Renault's Fernando Alonso, finished fifth, just ahead of Kovalainen, who struggled to match McLaren teammate Hamilton's pace.
The day's highest climber was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld. The German, who started 15th, finished seventh, one place ahead of compatriot Vettel - gifted a single championship point by Hamilton's smash.
With teammate Webber spinning off on the first lap, the Red Bulls' title tilt now appears to be over.
Vettel is 26 points behind Button and would need four wins, and at least two Button and Barrichello retirements, to clinch the championship.
Giancarlo Fisichella, 14th on the grid, marked his Ferrari debut with a well-earned ninth-place, while Japan's Kazuki Nakajima was 10th in his Williams.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
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The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
