Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his victory at the Belgium Grand Prix after race stewards said he had cut across a chicane to gain an advantage before passing Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his victory at the Belgium Grand Prix after race stewards said he had cut across a chicane to gain an advantage before passing Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Stewards strip Hamilton of victory



Lewis Hamilton's hopes of winning the world championship were dented last night as race stewards stripped him of victory in the Belgian Grand Prix. The Briton looked to have stretched his championship lead to eight points after he had finished first at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, ahead of the Ferrari of chief title challenger Felipe Massa. But Hamilton was punished for cutting the Bus Stop chicane three laps from the end of the race as he scrapped with the long-time race leader Kimi Raikkonen for the lead of the race. He was penalised 25 seconds and dropped behind Massa and the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld to third.

The incident began at the end of the 42nd lap when the duo almost tangled as Hamilton tried to pass Raikkonen around the outside of the Bus Stop chicane. Raikkonen pushed his rival wide and Hamilton ended up cutting the corner. He slowed to allow the Ferrari to go back ahead, before he passed Raikkonen at the La Source hairpin to take the lead. Hamilton said of the incident: "Kimi pushed me wide. I was a little bit ahead. "I was outside, I had no room and he basically pushed me so I went on the escape route. So I let him past, then got in his tow and he was ducking and diving left and right, but I managed to get past him. "I am stoked to have battled through the tough conditions. It was one of the most exciting races of my career." But that joy would quickly turn to disappointment some three hours after the race after the stewards made their decision after examining the race footage of the scrap. Raikkonen who had crashed on the 43rd lap in slippery conditions, had stayed tight-lipped over his views on the incident. He said: "There are rules about cutting chicanes and gaining an advantage and they are looking it. So I don't have anything to say." The decision changes the entire complexion of the championship. Instead of going to next Sunday's Italian Grand Prix with an eight point lead over Massa, Hamilton will just have a two point advantage.

The controversy will spoil what was a thrilling end to the race as following the incident for Hamilton was punished, he and Raikkonen then duelled for the lead as a late rain shower made the track wet. The pair had both remained on dry tyres, but as the rain began to fall more heavily Hamilton skated off the circuit later on in the lap entering Fagnes, allowing the Finn to retake the lead. But Raikkonen then spun on the exit of that corner, allowing Hamilton back in front, and then approaching the Bus Stop chicane at the end of the lap, the Ferrari driver lost control again and crashed into the wall. Hamilton navigated the final lap to take what he thought was his ninth win of his career. Massa had been content with second place and had said prior to the stewards' decision: "I didn't want to risk it. Eight points is eight points. I was going very slow through corners, it was very, very damp. Sometimes you think something and you go off." Raikkonen had crashed out chasing Hamilton for the victory and he now trails Hamilton by 19 points, and now will almost surely be asked to assist Massa's bid for the title. Hamilton had taken the lead from pole position at the start as a number of cars slid wide at the La Source hairpin, with Jarno Trulli's Toyota and Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren both falling down the order after incidents. Raikkonen had ruthlessly forced his way past teammate Massa at Les Combes to move up to second, and then he took advantage of a spin from Hamilton at La Source at the start of the second lap to move to the head of the field. Hamilton was quickly back on Raikkonen's tail, but was unable to find a way past on the fast flowing circuit and he dropped away after making an early pit-stop. Raikkonen maintained his lead through both rounds of pit-stops and looked to have the race won up until the late rain undid all his good work. Nick Heidfeld finished third, before being later moved upto second, after making the inspired decision to change to intermediate tyres for the last lap as the conditions worsened. The Renault of Fernando Alonso adopted a similar strategy to Heidfeld and he too was rewarded as he passed his rivals. Sebastian Vettel was fifth for Toro Rosso, ahead of the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica, while Vettel's teammate Sebastien Bourdais, who had started the final lap third, slipped to seventh. gcaygill@thenational.ae

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
TCL INFO

Teams:
Punjabi Legends 
Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan

Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals

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Famous left-handers

- Marie Curie

- Jimi Hendrix

- Leonardo Di Vinci

- David Bowie

- Paul McCartney

- Albert Einstein

- Jack the Ripper

- Barack Obama

- Helen Keller

- Joan of Arc

A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
  • 2018: Formal work begins
  • November 2021: First 17 volumes launched 
  • November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
  • October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
  • November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

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The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

City's slump

L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage

Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid 

Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani

Rating: 4/5

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Tips for SMEs to cope
  • Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
  • Make sure you have an online presence
  • Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
  • Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
    Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)