The Finn revived Ferrari's spirits with the fastest laps in free practice for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Ferrari great Michael Schumacher, now 56, has not been seen in public since the seven-times World champion German suffered a serious brain injury in an accident while skiing in the French Alps in December 2013.
Formula One World champion Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix for the second year in a row for Red Bull on Sunday to extend his overall lead to 10 points after four races.
Germany's Adrian Sutil stole some of the limelight from Michael Schumacher in Bahrain on Friday by putting Force India on top of the timesheets in first practice for the Formula One season. Sutil lapped the newly extended Bahrain Grand Prix circuit in one minute, 56.583 seconds while seven-times champion Schumacher, making his comeback with Mercedes at the age of 41, was 10th and 1.079 seconds slower.
The government hopes to use the Grand Prix as a way of showing that life is back to normal after a democracy movement launched an Arab Spring-inspired uprising last year.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has waived rights fees due from Bahrain Grand Prix organisers after the season-opening race was called off because of unrest in the Gulf Kingdom. 'The fee that is normally being paid for the event is not being paid,' Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday.
The Force India Formula One team will limit their involvement in second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday and may skip the session altogether for safety reasons, deputy principal Bob Fernley said.
McLaren ace driver Lewis Hamilton has demanded an investigation following the blunders during the Bahrain Grand Prix, and believes his team has to go back to the drawing board to re-ignite their championship credentials this season.
Max Verstappen leads Red Bull front row sweep in Bahrain
'This is the most exciting period of my life, so I'm really just enjoying it and I'm so excited to get in the car tomorrow.'
Renault's Chinese test driver Guanyu Zhou won a virtual Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday as Formula One sought to entertain fans with esports action in a season stalled by the spreading coronavirus. The first seven rounds of the real championship have been cancelled or postponed, including the showcase Monaco Grand Prix, and it remains to be seen how many there will be ultimately.
Bahrain Grand Prix organisers called off Formula One's March 13 season-opener on Monday after a week of anti-government protests that left seven dead and hundreds injured.
Germany's Nico Rosberg, who has yet to transform his practice pace into anything higher than sixth place in a race this season, put Williams on top of the timesheets at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday. Rosberg, son of 1982 champion Keke, lapped the Sakhir circuit in a time of one minute 33.339 seconds. The German has now been quickest in seven of the 11 practice sessions this year.
Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel roared to his and Red Bull's first victory of the season in a lively and controversial Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Red Bull's Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel took his first pole position of the season in qualifying for the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a second successive pole position disappeared on Saturday when he was handed a five-place penalty on the Bahrain Grand Prix starting grid for an unscheduled gearbox change.
Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez were handed grid penalties for next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix after Formula One stewards ruled they were to blame for collisions in Sunday's race in China.
McLaren have been placed at the slow end of the pitlane since they were stripped of all their points in 2007 due to a spying controversy.
Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher completed just five laps but still boasted the second fastest time of one minute 32.120 seconds.
Poland's Robert Kubica, still without a point after three races, hopes to boost his chances in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix by racing for the first time with the new KERS energy recovery system.
His Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa joins him on the front row while Briton Jenson Button, in a Honda, and Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso line up together on the second row.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa will start Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix on pole position.
Paul di Resta delivered his best result of the 2012 season by earning eight points for Sahara Force India with a sixth place finish while Nico Hulkenberg ended 12th at the Bahrain Grand Prix, in Manama on Sunday.
The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead next weekend despite concerns over security but the race organisers' decision has split opinion in the Gulf state, which has been shaken by a year of anti-government protests.
His last-gap effort notwithstanding, Giancarlo Fisichella could not make the cut for the second qualifying session and the Force India driver will start 18th on the grid for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, with his German team-mate Adrian Sutil a row further back at 20th.
Sahara Force India registered their best qualifying performance this season with Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil setting the seventh and eighth fastest times at the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix in Manama on Saturday.
Australian Oscar Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday to take the lead in the Formula One world championship
Charles Leclerc seized the first pole position of his Formula One career on Saturday with Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel second fastest to lock out the front row for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Pietro Fittipaldi will make his Formula One race debut with the Haas team at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain next weekend as replacement for Romain Grosjean
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the upcoming Sakhir Grand Prix.
Stewards said in a statement that the Briton had escaped a more severe sanction "due to the fact that no clear instruction was given to the driver on where he should park the car after qualifying".
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen back on the podium to deny Mercedes another one-two finish under the floodlights.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Lewis Hamilton became the first driver in Formula One history to finish all of his first three races on the podium.
Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher said the Pontiff's death had affected the team.
Formula One's 2015 season, comprising 20 races, kicks-off in Australia on March 15.
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.
Lewis Hamilton took his 98th career pole position in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday
Formula One teams are keeping a wary eye on the situation in Bahrain with the Gulf kingdom due to host a Grand Prix next April after this year's was cancelled due to civil unrest.
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