Nico Rosberg's golden run continued on Friday when he topped the times ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and his Mercedes-GP teammate Lewis Hamilton in practice for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
The German, who is 43 points ahead of defending three-time champion Hamilton in the championship standings having won the first four races of the season, clocked a best lap of 1 minute, 23.922 seconds.
This enabled him to outpace Finn Raikkonen by 0.254 seconds and Hamilton by seven-tenths, ample proof that he has the pace to claim his eighth successive triumph tomorrow, his winning run extending back to the final three races of the 2015 season.
“It’s great to be back in Europe and to be back in Spain,” said Rosberg, who won last year’s race at Circuit de Catalunya. “It was a good start for us today with two good sessions. Times were looking good on the long run and also on the shorter stints.
“I feel very comfortable with the car, with some new parts added, and they seemed to have worked well. Ferrari also looked very strong around this circuit so I’m looking forward to Saturday’s third practice as well as qualifying and to see how we perform.”
Rosberg’s confidence was as clear as Hamilton’s hesitancy.
“That wasn’t an easy day for me,” said Hamilton of his efforts on track in Barcelona.
“I struggled with the car balance throughout the day – and this afternoon, in particular, it felt really tricky to drive.
“It’s clear we have plenty of work to do this evening to get the car driving like I want it to.
“But we will get our heads down this evening and work through the data -- and I’m confident we can pull things around for tomorrow.”
The second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr, with the Red Bull Racing car of Daniel Ricciardo sixth.
The Australian was quicker than his new teammate Max Verstappen in both practice sessions.
Verstappen had moved to the Austrian team from Toro Rosso, with Daniil Kvyat moving in the other direction.
The Dutch teenager has been impressive in F1 since making his debut last season and Red Bull are believed to have made the move as much to prevent Mercedes and Ferrari trying to sign him for the 2017 campaign.
Verstappen, 18, said of his first day of action as a Red Bull driver: “I think I can be happy. I did all the procedures, I was enjoying it.
“I was getting used to the car still, but it was all going very positive.”
Ricciardo said he was unfazed by the challenge of having a new teammate.
“I am sure about myself and I know that I can be competitive on the track and leave it there,” he said.
“I don’t take it away with me so I don’t worry about that.
“I have confidence in my ability ... I don’t want to be naive with these young guys coming up – even Daniil. I know he was quick on his day and I expect Max to be quick as well.”
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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
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.
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- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
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- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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Racecard
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
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6.30pm: Chaddad
7.05pm: Down On Da Bayou
7.40pm: Mass Media
8.15pm: Rafal
8.50pm: Yulong Warrior
9.25pm: Chiefdom
