Hamilton's flying lap of one minute 22.188 seconds set a new record at Albert Park but was only 0.268 seconds in front of German Vettel, offering the tantalising prospect of a competitive championship after three years of domination by the Silver Arrows.
Kimi Raikkonen went further, saying he had no intention of leaving McLaren.
Formula One is changing its scoring system to award a point to the driver who sets the fastest race lap, starting from this weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Ferrari are considering whether to lodge a protest that could lead to the result of the Formula One world championship being overturned.
Partial sanctions against Russian athletes over the country's state-run doping system are preliminary, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Sunday, defending the organisation's position amid vocal criticism.
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.
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.
Champions Mercedes are chasing a sixth successive double, and Lewis Hamilton his sixth drivers' title, but the task looks tougher than ever.
Prolific batsman Hashim Amla (81) hit a splendid half-century before Ryan McLaren took four wickets as South Africa mauled Pakistan by 67 runs to keep themselves in the race for the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals, in Birmingham, on Monday.
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished second and third respectively.
The Finn won the race for the second year in a row and kept Renault's Fernando Alonso waiting for the Formula One title.
Formula One title contender Kimi Raikkonen accused McLaren's Sergio Perez of driving like an idiot after a Monaco Grand Prix collision that almost ended the Finn's 23-race run of scoring finishes.
Sahara Force India had a remarkable outing at the Circuit de Monaco as comeback man Adrian Sutil and teammate Paul di Resta finished a creditable fifth and ninth respectively in the crash-strewn Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, earning the team 12 World Championship points.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton seized his first win for Mercedes in the Hungarian heat on Sunday while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel forged 38 points clear in the Formula One championship after finishing third.
The McLaren driver will miss Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix after sustaining a hairline crack in his shoulder while playing tennis.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Pune Warriors and Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune.
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.
Bruno Senna has been given a five-place grid penalty for the Singapore Grand Prix after his Williams team changed his gearbox ahead of Sunday's race.
Claiming to have accessed WADA's database, Fancy Bears' hack team claimed to have leaked dozens of files allegedly relating to United States athletes on the internet.
Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position for his home British Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with German team mate Nico Rosberg qualifying alongside him in an all-Mercedes front row.
Lewis Hamilton has put trials and tribulations behind him and is raring to make his first British Grand Prix appearance for Mercedes this weekend in a car he says is better than last year's McLaren.
Formula One rolls into Malaysia this week for the second round of the championship at the Sepang International Circuit, where talk surrounding the utter dominance of Mercedes will for once take a back seat to the belated arrival of Fernando Alonso.
Pirelli are coming under pressure to make longer-lasting Formula One tyres after Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix saw drivers lifting off the throttle rather than go flat-out to the flag.
Sahara Force India do not depend now just on wet weather conditions to upset the big teams as the car is competitive enough in all conditions, team principal Vijay Mallya asserted on Monday.
Hamilton said he would still be "incredibly proud" to pull level with "an icon like Michael" and seven was way beyond his wildest dreams, but numbers and titles maybe meant more to those on the outside.
Lewis Hamilton's world championship defence got off to a flying start on Sunday with a crushing victory for Mercedes in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as Formula One rivals succumbed to a farcical rash of reliability problems.
