Fernando Alonso of McLaren shown leaving the garage during testing at Jerez, Spain earlier this month. Marcelo del Pozo / Reuters / February 3, 2015
Fernando Alonso of McLaren shown leaving the garage during testing at Jerez, Spain earlier this month. Marcelo del Pozo / Reuters / February 3, 2015

‘We will have sucess’: McLaren off to rocky start with Honda, but expect turnaround



McLaren and Honda on Tuesday vowed to overcome a worrying start to their new Formula One partnership and challenge champions Mercedes when the season starts next month.

The British-Japanese team managed only 79 laps in pre-season testing last week as a series of glitches cast concerns over their performance at the season-opener in Melbourne.

But Yasuhisa Arai, chief officer of Honda’s motor sport division, said the team should prepare to vie with Mercedes, who won the 2014 drivers and constructors titles.

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“As long as we participate in the race, we should prepare to be competitive with the top team Mercedes,” Arai said, as he showed off an exhibition model of the new MP4-30 car with drivers Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in Tokyo.

“Other than that, there is neither significance nor meaning,” he added.

Alonso said: “There is a very challenging time for all of us, but ... we are ready for some victory hopefully soon.”

Honda is returning to Formula One this season as an engine supplier to McLaren, in a bid to revive a partnership which conquered F1 from 1988 to 1991 with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the wheel.

The Japanese automaker pulled out of F1 after the 2008 season, ending an involvement that began in the 1960s, to cut costs during the economic downturn.

Ron Dennis, head of McLaren Technology Group, said: “We will have success because history shows that Honda always succeeds and Honda-McLaren partnership of the 80s is something that we intend to reproduce.”

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Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

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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