The McLaren driver has only one piece of advice for Formula One's rookie drivers: 'Let us past.'
The Indian driver scored one point after a sparkling recovery drive in the feature race on Saturday, after he was delayed by a slow pitstop and a spin, but was pushed out of the lead at the first corner of Sunday's sprint race.
Giancarlo Fisichella outpaced Lewis Hamilton and cut through a cluttered midfield to finish an impressive 12th as Force India notched up its first double finish of the season in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Poland's Robert Kubica took his and BMW Sauber's first Formula One pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday. The 23-year-old from Krakow denied Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa the top spot with a final flying lap of one minute 33.096 seconds right at the end of qualifying at the Sakhir desert circuit.
Giancarlo Fisichella once again outshone team-mate Adrian Sutil even though both the Force India drivers managed to better their morning timings in the afternoon free practice session ahead of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Indian ace's Jordan-Toyota E15 developed electrical problems and he was forced to retire in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Indian driver was happy with his timing at the dusty Bahrain track, where the temperature was high too.
Karun Chandhok's GP2 debut ended in an anti-climax as a collision in the sixth lap dashed his hopes of a decent finish.
'Lewis tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday prior to completion of his self-isolation period in Bahrain'
Jenson Button is relishing the prospect of climbing into the Formula One world champion's number one car for the first time this week.
The Ferrari driver feels far more confident about the new Formula One season than he did last year.
Jarno Trulli was second for Toyota, while Michael Schumacher took third place in the new F2005 in the first qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Two members of the Haas Formula One team and one from McLaren were quarantined in Melbourne on Wednesday as a precaution amid coronavirus fears ahead of Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. McLaren said one team member had self-isolated in the team hotel as a precaution for showing 'coronavirus-like symptoms'.
'I don't feel like I'm at the end. The next eight months or so I'll find out whether I'm ready to stop or not, I don't think I will personally, but you never know.'
It was the first time Verstappen, winner of a record 19 of 22 races last year, has won the first two races of a season. He has also won 19 of the last 20.
Seven time world champion Michael Schumacher, still in a coma in a French hospital after a skiing accident in late December, is to have the first corner of Bahrain's Formula One circuit named after him.
Formula One is considering holding closed races without spectators, most likely at European circuits, once the season is able to start after being stalled by the new coronavirus pandemic. Formula One has brought forward and extended its August break from March through to May to clear the European summer for a rescheduled calendar that could see races on successive weekends and into the New Year.
The start of the Formula One season was pushed back to July from March due to the pandemic, with extensive changes made to the 2020 calendar.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel qualified third, ahead of 21-year-old Monegasque team mate Charles Leclerc who was unable to repeat his Bahrain Grand Prix pole of two weeks ago.
Formula One will revert to its 2015 qualifying format at next week's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai and for the remainder of the season, the governing FIA said in a statement on Thursday after backing down in the face of opposition from teams.
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on pole position for Formula One's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix
Jackie Stewart, Britain's only triple Formula One world champion, knows his record is on borrowed time after Lewis Hamilton's storming victory in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Formula One scrapped all four of this season's races in the Americas due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday and added three European rounds, including old favourites Imola and the Nuerburgring, to the calendar. While previously scheduled Grands Prix in Canada, Texas, Mexico and Brazil were cancelled, Formula One said in a statement that Portugal's Portimao will host a race for the first time.
Italy's Mugello circuit will make its debut on the Formula One calendar in September to host Ferrari's 1,000th grand prix, the sport announced on Friday, with Russia's race in Sochi also confirmed. The September 13 race, to be called the Grand Prix of Tuscany Ferrari 1,000, will follow on from the September 6 Italian Grand Prix at Monza as the ninth round of a season that has been heavily revised due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sebastian Vettel's hopes of fighting champions Mercedes for victory in Sunday's Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix went up in smoke before the start when his Ferrari's engine blew on the formation lap.
Shanghai sports authorities have recommended the suspension of all sporting events in the city due to the coronavirus outbreak, casting further doubt on whether the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix will take place. This year's calendar has a record 22 races, leaving little chance of any rescheduling. Russia, whose race is in September but has previously been held in April, has already ruled out a date swap.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said the pair remain free to fight on track and if either is clearly faster than the other would be given preference.
Formula One will make it mandatory for all personnel working in its paddock to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, without exemption, starting this season.
Verstappen took pole position for the Saudi Arabian Formula One Grand Prix on Friday with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualifying alongside on the front row.
Perez, who vaulted to fourth in the overall standings after Sunday's race, is the first Mexican driver to win a race since Pedro Rodriguez took victory in the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton has already won the title, his record-equalling seventh, but the Briton is isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.
Austria to stay on Formula One calendar until 2027.
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.
The FIA expected its investigation to take six to eight weeks. It will look at all safety devices, how the safety barrier performed and the role of track marshals and medical intervention team.
Replays showed the driver leaping over the barriers and away from the flaming wreckage of his car.
Australia was given a new date of Nov. 21 for the race in Melbourne.
From bloody noses to sparks on the race track, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
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