Russell fastest in first Austrian GP practice as Dunne shines
World champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, stunning the McLarens with a late flying lap.
Leclerc brought out the red flags when he hit the wall at the second chicane with 45 minutes remaining, causing extensive damage to his Ferrari.
Lando Norris lucked in to win a rain-hit and crash-strewn Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a McLaren one-two on Saturday.
Verstappen is third overall in the standings, 61 points behind Piastri who leads Norris by 15, and chasing his third win of the campaign to make up for retirement in Austria last weekend.
George Russell said he was driving better than ever and ready to fight for a Formula One championship with Mercedes after taking the team's first win of the season in Canada, but this year still looks a long shot.
Australian Piastri, winner of four of the last five races, lapped the Imola circuit with a fastest time of one minute 16.545 seconds on the softest tyre compound with Norris 0.032 slower on a sunny afternoon.
Max Verstappen was surprised by his Red Bull car's performance as the F1 defending champion took third place in qualifying for the season-opening race.
The 18-year-old, preparing for only his sixth Grand Prix weekend, lapped with a best time of one minute 26.482 seconds to pip McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds.
Max Verstappen's sensational first Formula One victory, at just 18 years of age, had former champions and grandees of the sport casting around for superlatives at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
The win from fourth on the grid was Australian Oscar Piastri's third in a row, after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and fourth of the season. McLaren have so far been beaten only once.
McLaren's Formula One leader Lando Norris called himself an idiot after crashing in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, and he stuck by the self-criticism when talking to reporters afterwards.
World champion Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in dramatic style on Saturday.
In the constructors' standings, Ferrari closed the gap to McLaren to 24 points.
Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri, who spun off and finished ninth in his home race last Sunday after starting on the front row and challenging for the lead, has another good chance to rev up his season.
Max Verstappen apologised to Brazilian Formula One fans on Monday after a comment about Felipe Massa caused offence at the weekend.
Lando Norris won the Austrian Grand Prix and revived his Formula One title bid after fending off championship-leading McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri under race-long pressure on Sunday.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri seized the first proper pole position of his Formula One career at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday with the fastest lap yet around the Shanghai International Circuit.
F1 leader Oscar Piastri seized pole position from teammate and title rival Lando Norris by a hefty margin as dominant McLaren locked out the front row in Spanish Grand Prix.
It was the first time in seven races that Ferrari had failed to get at least one of their cars into the top 10.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll collected a one-place grid drop for Sunday's race after stewards ruled the Canadian was to blame for the collision with Leclerc running into him at the hairpin.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday with the battle for the constructor's title going down to next weekend's Abu Dhabi season-ender
Ferrari's underwhelming pace was a surprise to their rivals and to Hamilton, whose quickest lap in the final qualifying session (Q3) was nearly nine-tenths of a second slower than Norris's.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his first Formula One win for Ferrari after leading a Chinese Grand Prix sprint from start to finish in only his second race for the Italian team on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton will launch his bid to win the drivers' championship at a third F1 team when he makes his much-anticipated debut for Ferrari in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli showed he was a quick learner by becoming F1's youngest race leader and fastest lap setter on his way to sixth place for Mercedes in the Japanese Grand Prix
McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrated his 50th Formula One race with a pole-to-flag win in Bahrain on Sunday that sent him second overall.
Yuki Tsunoda said he has not been offered any guarantees about how long he will stay at Red Bull
Lando Norris put Formula One champions McLaren on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix in track-record time on Saturday, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc alongside on the front row for his home race.
Max Verstappen gave himself a perfect 20th birthday present by winning the last Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Lewis Hamilton stretched his Formula One world championship lead to 34 points.
'Tomorrow's going to be a challenge, I've never driven this car in the rain.'
Red Bull's Max Verstappen dealt Lando Norris a shattering blow in their Formula One title battle by winning a wet and chaotic Sao Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris topped the times for McLaren as four red flags, two caused by trackside grass fires, wreaked havoc with the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday.
McLaren's Lando Norris took an emphatic pole position at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday after Red Bull rival Max Verstappen qualified only 17th in a wet and crash-strewn session at Interlagos.
Carlos Sainz completed a double race distance for previously struggling Williams and pushed his Ferrari successor Lewis Hamilton off the top of the testing
McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrated pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, his 50th Formula One race, while dejected championship-leading teammate Lando Norris qualified sixth and said he had been "clueless on track".
Bernie Ecclestone says his money is still on Red Bull's Max Verstappen to win the Formula One championship
Yuki Tsunoda will race for Red Bull from his home Japanese Formula One Grand Prix next week with struggling New Zealander Liam Lawson demoted to sister team Racing Bulls in a straight swap.
Drivers returned to the pits, under a darkening sky, with engineers using torches in the garages before back-up generators came on and the session resumed about an hour later.
Mondo Duplantis was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, while American gymnast Simone Biles bagged the top women's honour at the Laureus World Sports Awards.
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