Lewis Hamilton broke ranks with other drivers who said they were comfortable with assurances received from the governing FIA, even as other sports cancel events and competitions around the globe.
The circuit agreed last year an extension to cover this year's race, which was held in August and without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after fears it would drop off the calendar.
Valtteri Bottas won a dramatic first race of the delayed Formula One season for champions Mercedes in Austria on Sunday
The German, whose bid for a fifth crown petered out last year in mistakes and misfortune, had already been facing questions about whether he was making too many errors to win the championship.
The race has been won from pole eight times out of 11 editions.
Lewis Hamilton did 94 laps of Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on the soft C2 compound in a sunny afternoon session
Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix to seize the overall lead from his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas in Formula One's 1,000th world championship race on Sunday.
The good times are back, in a measured way, in fun spots across the globe.
Red Bull's Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen took the chequered flag in second place with Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium for Ferrari and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth for Red Bull.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen went fastest in Styrian Grand Prix practice, on Friday, while Australian Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Renault
The pole was the second of the Dutch 22-year-old's Formula One career and the first in Brazil for engine partners Honda since the late triple champion Ayrton Senna in 1991 with McLaren.
A glaring error by Ferrari denied Charles Leclerc the chance to shine at home, with the 21-year-old failing to make it through the first phase and qualifying only 16th after going fastest in final practice.
Former world champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button are among six drivers hit with a plethora of penalties on the grid for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Starting second behind pole-sitter Hamilton, Bottas got the jump on the Briton during a typically messy start at Albert Park and ended up cruising to his fourth win by some 20.80 seconds after delaying a tyre-change.
Hamilton has won the last three races, out of four so far in this COVID-19 affected season, and will start as favourite again.
Lewis Hamilton collected his champion's trophy at a glittering gala in Paris after ending the year in touching distance of Michael Schumacher's records for wins and titles.
World champion Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes in qualifying on Saturday for Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix for a record sixth time on Sunday to stretch his lead over Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to 39 points.
Lewis Hamilton led every lap from pole position to chequered flag, banging in a fastest lap for good measure to emphasise his supremacy
The pole was a record-extending 88th of Hamilton's career and fifth of the season.
The Scottish broadcaster said Murray was self-isolating and still had hopes of competing in the Australian Open next month.
Lewis Hamilton won in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and took championship lead.
Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to stretch his championship lead to 30 points over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who fought back to fourth after a first lap spin.
In a thrilling race with two safety car periods, reigning champion Hamilton went from pole position to the rear of the field before finishing second for Mercedes in a superb fightback. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the French Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas alongside him on the front row.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc held off Lewis Hamilton to win his first Formula One race on Sunday in the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.
Vettel will be sharing Ferrari testing duties with the 20-year-old at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit next week after the second grand prix of the season.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrated his first Formula One pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on pole position for their 200th race at the German Grand Prix on Saturday while engine problems dashed Ferrari's hopes.
The front row lockout was a record-equalling 65th for champions Mercedes.
The Renault Formula One team will be renamed Alpine F1 from 2021, competing in French colours to showcase the carmaker's sportscar brand, new company CEO Luca de Meo announced on Sunday.
Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel pumped in a stunning late lap to snatch pole position from team mate Kimi Raikkonen as Ferrari dominated Chinese Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
The win was the third of the Finn's career and season, denying Hamilton a 10th of the campaign.
The Briton lapped the Albert Park circuit in a searing one minute and 21.164 seconds to cross the line 0.664 seconds clear of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
On a rainsoaked afternoon that saw the race twice stopped and re-started with the safety car deployed five times, there were also those who felt the sport had erred too far on the side of caution.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes stormed to pole position with a scorching lap in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix as title rival Sebastian Vettel was left stranded in the garage and will start dead last.
In a race of safety cars and surprises, Verstappen's former team mate Pierre Gasly made a first podium appearance in second place for Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso, a rare Honda-powered one-two.
Hamilton held off a mid-race challenge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen to register a record-equalling fourth triumph at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit track, while Vettel finished third to slip further behind in the title race.
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