The Monaco Grand Prix, while interesting, went as expected after what we had seen in qualifying with Brawn GP and Ferrari at the front.
Jenson Button got into the lead at the start, extended his lead and then was able to cruise home for another victory for himself and Brawn GP.
There was a period when Jenson's teammate Rubens Barrichello was pushed hard by Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, but he had enough to finish second, ahead of Raikkonen and the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
The big story of the weekend I guess really was Ferrari's renaissance as both cars were quick, with Kimi particularly doing well.
It may be too late realistically for them to mount a championship challenge, but it will be interesting to see in the next few races if they can continue this form and take on and beat Brawn and claim some race victories.
The other big shock was just how bad the Toyotas were here. It was a genuine surprise as it was only two races ago they locked out the front row in Bahrain, yet here they were so slow they took the last two places on the grid. It was the equivalent of going from being hero to zero as Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock both struggled.
They have looked good every where else this season, so to see them going so badly and off the pace was astonishing. Toyota are also one of the big spenders in the series and I guess their miserable weekend shows that spending a lot of money is no guarantee of results on the track.
Brawn once again were just too good for everyone else. They were quick and made no mistakes.
Jenson was once again superb and it is getting to the stage now where it is almost his world championship to lose, such is the lead in the championship that he is building.
Rubens looks like the only one who can threaten him at the moment, but even that doesn't look particularly likely. Even if he has a failure in a race, Jenson still has a few points in hand and he is looking very good to be the champion right now.
It was a bad weekend for Lewis Hamilton though after his crash in qualifying.
Lewis's problem is that he is the world champion and he cannot afford to make those kind of mistakes.
I was really surprised when I heard him mention that he was under pressure, and I was shocked he would even use that word.
It is not his fault that his car is slow this year so if anything there should be no pressure on him at all.
Yes, he is world champion, but it is clear with the car he has that it was going to be very difficult for him to defend his crown, so that really should have taken all the pressure off him.
He shouldn't be making the kind of basic errors that he did. Instead of being pushing at the front, which the car was clearly capable of, he was at the back and while he was able to use the KERS button to pass a couple of driver he went nowhere and all because he made that mistake.
The KERS button did add to the racing in Monaco. Normally overtaking in the dry is impossible, but the likes of Massa and Hamilton were able to overtake at the chicane coming out of the tunnel thanks to the speed boost that the device gave them.
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
Company%20Profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
FIXTURES
Saturday
5.30pm: Shabab Al Ahli v Al Wahda
5.30pm: Khorfakkan v Baniyas
8.15pm: Hatta v Ajman
8.15pm: Sharjah v Al Ain
Sunday
5.30pm: Kalba v Al Jazira
5.30pm: Fujairah v Al Dhafra
8.15pm: Al Nasr v Al Wasl
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5