SPA FRANCORCHAMPS // For a moment, on the 35th lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton's heart was in his mouth.
The rain had been getting heavier for a couple of laps and he had contemplated a tyre change. Once he passed the pit entry, however, he was committed to at least one more lap on dry tyres before he could get back around and put on some intermediate tyres. The problem was that was then the deluge arrived.
Up at Rivage, a downhill right-hander, Hamilton locked a wheel and his McLaren-Mercedes speared wide into the gravel.
"My front wing just kissed the tyre wall," he said, "but somebody was definitely looking after me today."
Mostly, though, he took care of himself en route to his third Formula One victory of the year, a result that has restored his championship advantage.
Hamilton took the lead at the start, when Red Bull-Renault's Mark Webber, the pole position holder, faltered on the line.
"It happened at the start of the formation lap, too," Webber said. "I changed the clutch settings on my way to the grid - and it was even worse for the start proper."
He dropped to sixth while Hamilton led from Robert Kubica (Renault), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Jenson Button (McLaren).
Before the lap was out the circuit was hit by a brief rain shower, which caused most of the leaders to skate wide at the final chicane, although the only serious casualty was Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth). In his 300th grand prix, the Brazilian was unable to stop and harpooned Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. "It's a disappointing end to what had been a positive weekend," Barrichello said, "but I'm confident my 301st race will be better."
Alonso pitted and switched to wet tyres, as did several lower-order drivers, and the safety car was dispatched. Before it intervened, however, Kubica almost lost control on the long, uphill Kemmel Straight, which caused Vettel to slow and allowed Button to pass both of them. Webber passed Massa at the same time.
The shower was brief and all those on wet tyres switched back to dries before the race resumed at the end of lap three. Hamilton immediately pulled away from his teammate. The order at the front remained unchanged until lap 16, when Vettel lost control under braking for the chicane and slewed into Button. The world champion was out on the spot, but Vettel continued after pitting for a replacement front wing.
With the threat of serious rain never far away, the leaders stayed out for as long as possible, hoping to synchronise their mandatory tyre stops with a change in the weather, but the pace was starting to take its toll on rear tyres and at half-distance Webber came in for fresh rubber, followed swiftly by Kubica and Hamilton. The order remained unchanged.
The race's complexion altered again on lap 34, when the rain arrived in earnest. The leading four drivers passed the pit entry, while fifth-placed Adrian Sutil steered his Force India-Mercedes into the pits - and most others followed.
Moments later Hamilton slithered off the road before heading for the pits, with Kubica, Webber and Massa doing likewise. Kubica overshot his marker, however, and the time lost allowed Webber to grab second. "I had to alter a number of settings on the steering wheel, prior to the tyre change," Kubica said. "I think I became distracted."
The safety car would appear once more - Alonso crashed his Ferrari as the rain intensified - but Hamilton was able to complete the distance without further drama, beating Webber by 1.5seconds and taking a three point championship lead.
Massa and Sutil completed the top five, while Nico Rosberg passed Mercedes teammate Michael Schumacher towards the end of the race to take sixth, from Kamui Kobatashi (Sauber), Vitaly Petrov (Renault) and Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso). Alguersuari was given a 20 second penalty for short-cutting a chicane on the final lap, however, and the final point was awarded to Tonio Liuzzi, the Force-India driver.
sports@thenational.ae
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
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Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
More on Quran memorisation:
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
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
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE and Russia in numbers
UAE-Russia ties stretch back 48 years
Trade between the UAE and Russia reached Dh12.5 bn in 2018
More than 3,000 Russian companies are registered in the UAE
Around 40,000 Russians live in the UAE
The number of Russian tourists travelling to the UAE will increase to 12 percent to reach 1.6 million in 2023
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.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
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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
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
