SHANGHAI // Sebastian Vettel, the world champion, denied sparking another Red Bull Racing team orders row after he appeared to ignore an instruction during the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Vettel grumpily replied, “Tough luck” when told to yield to his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who was closing fast in fifth, after the first round of pitstops.
Ricciardo eventually passed two laps later and finished fourth, 21 seconds ahead of Vettel in fifth. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was the winner.
But despite his initial reaction, Vettel insisted he did give way to Ricciardo when he realised the Australian had more pace.
“I did move over,” Vettel told reporters. “Initially I didn’t understand (the request) because we were on the same tyres.
“At that stage Daniel was on a different strategy so, yeah, I moved over. I could see more and more towards the end of the race that I just didn’t have the pace... In the end there was no point in holding him back.”
Ricciardo has been consistently quicker than Vettel this season in an unexpected challenge for the German, who has won the last four world titles but currently lies fifth in the standings.
Vettel’s initial response over the radio came when he was informed that Ricciardo, who was on the same tyres, was behind only because he had pitted earlier.
Vettel has previously ignored orders, most famously when he overtook then teammate Mark Webber to win the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix despite being told to hold second position.
However, two weeks ago in Bahrain, he moved over without complaint for Ricciardo, who was on quicker, softer tyres.
Vettel’s version of events on Sunday was backed up by team boss Christian Horner.
“Look, at that stage Seb was on the same tyres and he wants to race,” Horner said. “But he was going through the tyres quicker so he’s obviously moved out of the way and let his teammate through.
“From a team point of view we always want to get the best result for the team that we can. And Seb’s done the right thing today.”
Horner added that he was much more concerned about finding the reasons behind Vettel’s lack of pace.
“More important for us is to try to understand what Seb is struggling with at the moment,” he said.
Last two laps in Shanghai do not count because of early chequered flag
A stewarding blunder forced the Chinese Grand Prix to be shortened by two laps on Sunday after a race marshal mistakenly showed the chequered flag early to race winner Lewis Hamilton.
Under FIA rules, if the flag is shown early the race is deemed to have finished when the leading car last crossed the line, in this case after Lap 54.
The mishap was not announced until after the race, meaning the last two laps of the 56 were effectively null and void and the finishing times and race distance had to be hastily revised.
“That was very strange,” said Hamilton, the Mercedes-GP driver. “I was thinking ‘am I seeing things?’ I looked up as I was coming across the line, expecting to do another lap, and I saw a chequered flag. And I saw there was no one [from the team] on the wall so I kept going.
“I did lose like a second or so. I asked the team was there a flag and they said ‘no’ and I kept going.”
sports@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
Results:
Men’s wheelchair 200m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 27.14; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 27.81; 3. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 27.81.
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
The%20specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDual%20permanently%20excited%20synchronous%20motors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E516hp%20or%20400Kw%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E858Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E485km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh699%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Have you been targeted?
Tuan Phan of SimplyFI.org lists five signs you have been mis-sold to:
1. Your pension fund has been placed inside an offshore insurance wrapper with a hefty upfront commission.
2. The money has been transferred into a structured note. These products have high upfront, recurring commission and should never be in a pension account.
3. You have also been sold investment funds with an upfront initial charge of around 5 per cent. ETFs, for example, have no upfront charges.
4. The adviser charges a 1 per cent charge for managing your assets. They are being paid for doing nothing. They have already claimed massive amounts in hidden upfront commission.
5. Total annual management cost for your pension account is 2 per cent or more, including platform, underlying fund and advice charges.
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
%3Cp%3E1.%20Singapore%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Switzerland%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Denmark%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Ireland%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Hong%20Kong%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%20Sweden%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%20Taiwan%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%20Netherlands%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%20Norway%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Jawan
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAtlee%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shah%20Rukh%20Khan%2C%20Nayanthara%2C%20Vijay%20Sethupathi%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out