SILVERSTONE, England // Seldom has justice been more poetic. One day after being obliged to hand over new parts to Sebastian Vettel, his Red Bull-Renault teammate, who used them to secure pole position, Mark Webber underlined that it will take more than internal politics to derail his quest for this year's Formula One drivers' championship.
The Australian driver made a flying start to yesterday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone, swatting Vettel aside at the first corner and going on to lead every centimetre of the race.
Webber started second, traditionally disadvantageous because that side of the circuit is usually dirtier and offers less traction, but there was no significant discrepancy yesterday.
"There have been lots of support races this weekend," said Webber, "and I think that helped keep the track clean." Webber drew alongside Vettel before the first corner and did not flinch when the German attempted a defensive chop. Just behind, Lewis Hamilton took a look to Vettel's inside - and there followed the slightest of touches between his McLarenMercedes's front wing and Vettel's right-rear tyre.
"I got too much wheelspin off the line," Vettel said. "I moved across to cover myself, but Mark was already there so I had to let him go. People tell me Hamilton then touched my rear wheel, but I didn't feel anything."
He did when the wounded Bridgestone deflated as he reached Becketts, a series of sweeps entered at almost 190mph. He did remarkably well to bring the car under control, but after bounding across the grass - and out of contention - he was obliged to crawl back to the pits for an early tyre change on lap two.
Hamilton shadowed the leader for a couple of laps, but the Australian soon built a comfortable lead over the Briton.
Hamilton made his mandatory pit stop on lap 16, Webber following one lap later, and the two cars were six seconds apart when the safety car was deployed on lap 28. It was dispatched to allow marshals to sweep debris from the main straight, after Adrian Sutil (Force India) ran into the back of Pedro de la Rosa's BMW Sauber on the approach to Copse.
The race resumed at the start of lap 31 and, as he had before, Webber was able to pull away.
"The safety car is always a slight concern," he said, "but I'd had a gap before and there was a reason for that.
"It was actually a bit of a benefit, too, because with the whole field bunched up there weren't so many slower cars to pass in the final stages of the race."
Given McLaren's difficult start to the weekend - they had to abandon a new-specification floor on Friday evening - Hamilton was happy to finish second.
"It's a reflection of all the hard work the guys have put in," he said. "We're not as fast as Red Bull, though; Mark did a phenomenal job and I knew I wouldn't be able to outpace him."
Fernando Alonso started third for Ferrari, but he made a poor start and was later given a drive-through penalty for short-cutting a corner while passing the Renault of Robert Kubica.
That was awarded just as the safety car appeared, so he had to wait until the race resumed before he could serve his punishment - and with the cars all in a line he slipped down to 16th place. The safety car had the opposite effect for Vettel, who was able to recover some lost ground and scramble his way to seventh.
With Alonso penalised and Kubica falling victim to a differential failure, Nico Rosberg took a distant third for Mercedes GP, although he had to resist fierce pressure from Jenson Button as the defending champion recovered from 14th to fourth.
"Unfortunately," said Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, "we had to ask Jenson to turn down his engine revs. Because he started so far back, we assumed he wouldn't be running at his natural pace and gave him a lighter fuel load than Lewis.
"He made a great start, though, and was up to eighth by the end of the opening lap, so he was running rather faster than we'd anticipated."
sports@thenational.ae
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
World%20Cup%202023%20ticket%20sales
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FA Cup fifth round draw
Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City
Reading/Cardiff City v Sheffield United
Chelsea v Shrewsbury Town/Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United/Oxford United
Leicester City v Coventry City/Birmingham City
Northampton Town/Derby County v Manchester United
Southampton/Tottenham Hotspur v Norwich City
Portsmouth v Arsenal
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
Background: Chemical Weapons
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
2.30pm: Dubai Creek Tower – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Marmara Xm, Gary Sanchez (jockey), Abdelkhir Adam (trainer)
3pm: Al Yasmeen – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: AS Hajez, Jesus Rosales, Khalifa Al Neyadi
3.30pm: Al Ferdous – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Soukainah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
4pm: The Crown Prince Of Sharjah – Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: AF Thayer, Ray Dawson, Ernst Oertel
4.30pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup – Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: George Villiers, Antonio Fresu, Bhupat Seemar
5pm: Palma Spring – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Es Abu Mousa, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud
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
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
