Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas finished third, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, in a race aimed at providing more thrills for fans over the three days of track action and potentially shaking up the starting grid.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg took pole position for his 200th Formula One race after a stunning qualifying lap around Singapore's Marina Bay street circuit on Saturday. The German's best lap of one minute 42.584 seconds left him perfectly placed to retake the championship lead from British team mate Lewis Hamilton under the floodlights on Sunday.
Ricciardo said Formula One was lucky it was not having to deal with a very different story.
Formula One title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen took each other out of the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff slamming the incident as a 'tactical foul'.
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton hunted down Max Verstappen to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday and slash his Red Bull rival's Formula One lead to 14 points in one of the greatest drives of his career.
Hamilton, who had also topped Saturday morning's final practice session, never look like being challenged throughout the qualifying hour.
Red Bull are among a number of team frustrated by their inability to keep up with Mercedes, who dominated Formula One last year and cruised to an easy victory in Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix
Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday to seize the championship lead from team mate Nico Rosberg for the first time this season.
IMAGES from the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
This year marks the first that two quadruple champions are competing in the same season and their battle to see who joins Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio in second place on the all-time list with five titles promises to light up the series.
The sanctions, while nothing to do with actions on the track, could have championship ramifications with three reprimands in a season triggering an automatic 10 place grid penalty for the next race.
Daniel Ricciardo dashed Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen's hopes of becoming Formula One's youngest ever pole-sitter on Saturday while championship leader Lewis Hamilton qualified third for Mercedes at the Mexican Grand Prix. Hamilton, who need only finish seventh on Sunday to secure his fifth title with two races to spare, will have Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel alongside on the second row.
Red Bull have given "a definite no" to four-times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel's hopes of returning to them next year, team boss Christian Horner said on Friday. The German, who is out of contract with Ferrari at the end of the season and facing an uncertain future, had said on Thursday he would say yes to a Red Bull drive if one was offered.
Lewis Hamilton won a crazy, twice-halted Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to go level on points with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and set up a winner-takes-all title showdown.
Here we bring you all the sporting action from last week in this stunning photo feature.
Four days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Horner said his team still had plenty of ground to make up, however.
Lewis Hamilton is on course for his most successful campaign yet and can become only the third driver after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel to win 13 times in a season.
Mercedes set for proper fight with Ferrari in Melbourne
Lewis Hamilton extended his lead at the top of the overall Formula standings with an unchallenged drive to victory in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix. The Briton, who started from pole and led every lap, crossed the line 8.4 seconds ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas who gave Mercedes a one-two finish.
The Briton's Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas will line up alongside on the front row of the starting grid with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel behind them.
'It was probably one of the most difficult decisions to take in my career so far. But I thought that it was time for me to take on a fresh and new challenge'
Max Verstappen won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix from pole position for Red Bull on Sunday.
Formula One leader Max Verstappen passed Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap to win a tense French Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday and canter 12 points clear at the top.
'Together we achieved outstanding results and in time our record will be recognised on its own merits'
Vettel came out on top, giving Ferrari their first pole position since 2012 with a masterful lap around the floodlit Singaporean track.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to take 100 pole positions after lapping fastest for Mercedes in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton overtook main rival Max Verstappen and Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to win the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday and go eight points clear in the Formula One standings.
Mexican Sergio Perez qualified second for Force India but will drop five places due to an unscheduled gearbox change after he crashed in final practice on the Baku street circuit.
Germany's Sebastian Vettel won an emotional Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari and the late Jules Bianchi on Sunday after a crazy race that turned into a rare nightmare for champions Mercedes despite Lewis Hamilton increasing his overall lead.
Six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton dominated the Styrian Grand Prix in a Mercedes one-two on Sunday to celebrate his 85th Formula One win and move a step closer to Michael Schumacher's record of 91 victories. Finnish Team mate Valtteri Bottas, winner of last weekend's season-opener behind closed doors at the same Austrian circuit, finished a distant runner-up with his championship lead cut to six points.
Sebastian Vettel cruised to a third straight Singapore Grand Prix victory on Sunday and moved closer to a fourth consecutive Formula One world title with a dominant drive under the floodlights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton moved within reach of a fourth Formula One world championship on Sunday after winning a Japanese Grand Prix that saw Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel retire with engine problems.
Lewis Hamilton lapped fastest overall for Mercedes in Hungarian Grand Prix practice
Lewis Hamilton lapped in a league of his own on Saturday to seize pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix with Mercedes team mate and championship favourite Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row.
Win in Brazil on Sunday, win the Formula One title: Nico Rosberg's task sounds simple enough but is a lot harder to achieve.
The Finn's lap of one minute 17.221 seconds around Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya was the second fastest of the eight days of winter testing and slower only than team mate Sebastian Vettel's best on Thursday.
The FIA said the stewards concluded after a telephone hearing that the brake bias system "used innovative solutions to exploit certain ambiguities" and did not breach the technical regulations.
Since the traditional Australian opener was cancelled in March, Formula One has agreed changes to help teams hard hit by COVID-19.
Lewis Hamilton seized pole position in the dying seconds of qualifying for the first Portuguese Grand Prix in 24 years on Saturday to deny and dismay Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas once again.
Says he rejected Red Bull offer
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