It was hard not to be pessimistic about the chances of a competitive Italian Grand Prix on Friday when the other 18 cars in the field were struggling to get within a second of the dominant Mercedes-GP cars.
There is always big support and expectation on the Ferrari team at their home race and on Saturday that was no different with the grandstands at Monza packed and full of the team’s flags and banners.
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were nowhere near the pace of Lewis Hamilton in the first two practice sessions, with Vettel’s fastest time eight tenths off a second slower, and Raikkonen 1.1 secs down.
But clearly Ferrari’s engineers found something overnight as the pair were much closer to Hamilton in final practice, and Vettel got to within two tenths of Hamilton.
Ferrari maintained that speed into qualifying, and while they were not able to prevent Hamilton claiming the 48th pole position of his career, they did manage to split the Mercedes cars for the first time since the Bahrain Grand Prix in April – seven races ago.
Raikkonen was 0.234 secs off Hamilton’s time of 1 minute, 23.397 seconds to claim his first front-row start of the season as he went fractionally faster than Vettel, edging out the German by just 0.054 secs.
It was an impressive effort, given that the track is dominated by long straights with 76 per cent of the 5.7-kilometre lap spent on full throttle. This is a race where a strong engine is crucial.
Unsurprisingly, Mercedes and the teams supplied by them have been the ones coming to the fore, but for Ferrari to be legitimately so close to Hamilton is a victory in its own right. It gives hope they can continue to close the gap and fans may have closer racing at the front towards the end of the season and into 2016.
Their efforts relegated Nico Rosberg to fourth place in the second Mercedes, the German’s worst qualifying performance since the Chinese Grand Prix in 2014, and appeared to have dented his title hopes.
He trails Hamilton by 28 points in the drivers’ standings, but he may still receive some inadvertent help by Ferrari, who will fancy their chances of causing Hamilton problems on Sunday, if they can get ahead of him at the start.
That is a realistic possibility given the fact the Ferraris have usually been good off the line this year, and Hamilton’s getaways have been poor in recent races.
Hamilton has failed to convert pole into the lead at three of the past four races, and while he did lead away in Belgium two weeks ago, his start was slow but was aided by cars around him that made even worse ones.
Also in his memory will be his awful start last year, when he fell from first to fifth in a matter of seconds, although the positive for him was he was still able to fight back and finish first.
Getting their noses in front on Lap 1 in Hungary was how Vettel and Ferrari won, and either Ferrari will be in a strong position if they can get ahead of Hamilton.
The Mercedes has the speed edge, but as has been shown this year, they have found it difficult to overtake on track when stuck behind slower cars.
Hamilton was a second a lap faster than Vettel in Barcelona in May when he was behind him but had to rely on pit stops to get ahead. In Belgium, Rosberg did his passing in the pitlane to get from fourth to second after a slow start.
Vettel was calm on Ferrari’s chances, however, as he said: “We need to be realistic. It’s going to be a tough race.
“Those guys (Mercedes) have some serious pace in the race, as we’ve found out many times this year.”
Hamilton was unsurprisingly confident of his prospects of a third win in four years at Monza and a seventh of the season.
The Briton said Saturday: “Our race pace has tended to be quite strong, so I hope we see that tomorrow.”
gcaygill@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @NatSportUAE
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
UAE Team Emirates
Valerio Conti (ITA)
Alessandro Covi (ITA)
Joe Dombrowski (USA)
Davide Formolo (ITA)
Fernando Gaviria (COL)
Sebastian Molano (COL)
Maximiliano Richeze (ARG)
Diego Ulissi (ITAS)
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
DUNGEONS%20%26%20DRAGONS%3A%20HONOR%20AMONG%20THIEVES
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The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
ALL THE RESULTS
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.
Catch 74kg
Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.
Strawweight (Female)
Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.
Lightweight
Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan