The Briton's latest victory, in a Tuscan Grand Prix that was twice red-flagged and re-started, left him one shy of the Ferrari great -- a record once held up as a milestone to withstand the test of time.
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.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix in a McLaren one-two with team mate Jenson Button on Sunday.
Nicole Scherzinger is often seen by Hamilton's side at his biggest races and she did turn heads as she arrived to support her man in Abu Dhabi.
Mercedes team mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton renew their sometimes hostile rivalry on the floodlit streets of Singapore this weekend at a circuit where mistakes or collisions normally result in race retirement.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton stormed to a Canadian Grand Prix victory on Sunday to become a magnificent seventh winner in seven Formula One races this season and seize the championship lead.
Mercedes won the Formula One constructors' title for the fourth year in a row on Sunday but Lewis Hamilton was made to wait despite cruising to a U.S. Grand Prix victory at one of his favourite circuits.
The win also set a record, one that Hamilton had previously shared with seven times champion Michael Schumacher, of 41 wins from pole position.
World champion Hamilton stormed to pole with a record lap of one minute 21.164 seconds at Albert Park, with a gap of more than six-tenths of a second to the second placed Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton will become Formula One's first rookie champion, as well as the youngest, if he wins in China on Sunday.
McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton drew praise from Formula One's most successful driver, seven times champion Michael Schumacher, on Friday.
Germany's Nico Rosberg chalked up his 10th pole position of the season on Saturday after beating team mate Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes sweep of the front row in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying.
"The comparison? I see still Ayrton winning the game because in the end Ayrton was such a charming guy and a personality. And obviously if someone loses his life and stays with us in the way of a legend, it's always something special. But I try to see it from a performance point and from a performance point, Lewis is going from one pole position to the next one and Lewis is going from one race win to the next one. Just like Ayrton did."
Ferrari were the fastest in pre-season testing, raising suspicions that their new SF70H car has closed the chasm between Mercedes and the rest.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton timed his final run to perfection to snatch pole position for the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday and shatter Red Bull's run of supremacy.
World champion Lewis Hamilton splashed through the puddles at a rain-soaked Sepang International Circuit to secure pole position for Mercedes in a hectic Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday.
Singer Nicole Scherzinger who is currently dating Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, is all geared for the Formula One championship.
McLaren played down a report on Sunday that their world champion Lewis Hamilton had threatened to quit Formula One in disgust over a lying controversy.
The Briton, a winner in 2009, clocked one minute 47.055 seconds in dry conditions to finish 0.365 seconds ahead of Mark Webber with the Australian's Red Bull team mate and runaway championship leader Sebastian Vettel third fastest in 1:47.885.
Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to equal the late Ayrton Senna's tally of 41 Formula One victories and move 48 points clear of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg with five races remaining.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes on pole position for the first Russian Grand Prix in Sochi on Saturday with team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg having to settle for second.
Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton has lashed out at the plans of new qualifying format in the Formula One, saying the drivers should be consulted before changing the rules.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes stormed to pole position with a scorching lap in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix as title rival Sebastian Vettel was left stranded in the garage and will start dead last.
Lewis Hamilton was stopped by police for behaving like a boy racer Friday only hours after he had wowed a Melbourne crowd with the fastest lap in Australian Grand Prix practice.
Germany's Nico Rosberg celebrated his first Formula One world championship on Sunday after finishing runner-up in a tense Abu Dhabi Grand Prix won by Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton amid accusations of 'dirty tricks'.
British ace racer Lewis Hamilton has said that he expects to be at Mercedes for years to come after he was crowned world champion on Sunday for the second time.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Lewis Hamilton put his McLaren on pole for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday, as the team locked up the front row of the starting grid for the second race in a row.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton boosted his Formula One title chances by taking pole position for Sunday's Japanese GP while Ferrari rival Felipe Massa could qualify only fifth. The Briton, who leads the standings by seven points from Massa with three races remaining, starts ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on the front row.
Mercedes will take a firm line with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to make sure their clash at the US Grand Prix has no repercussions for the team, says motorsports director Toto Wolff.
A Chinese Grand Prix podium hostess who had champagne sprayed in her face by race winner Lewis Hamilton has played down the incident.
Lewis Hamilton has had enough of being an 'easy target' for his Formula One critics. McLaren's 2008 world champion said on Thursday that he was determined to bring back the good times, starting with Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, after the toughest season of his career.
'Vettel disgraced himself, to be honest'
Jenson Button would be well advised to listen to the words of Lewis Hamilton after Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix left the Brawn driver on the brink of Formula One glory.
An 'overwhelmed' Lewis Hamilton hoped to inspire others with his achievements, just as Ayrton Senna has fired his imagination as a boy, after celebrating the greatest day of his career with a third Formula One world title.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton gave his Formula One title hopes a huge boost when he took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday with his main rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari qualifying third.
Lewis Hamilton brushed aside Fernando Alonso's promise to help Ferrari's Felipe Massa win the F1 title, saying it was none of his business what other drivers did.
Lewis Hamilton joined the elite group of triple Formula One world champions on Sunday after winning a thrilling U.S. Grand Prix that kept the crowd on tenterhooks right to the very end.
Nico Rosberg's retirement from Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix was caused by a freak contamination of his steering column electronics by a substance used by Mercedes in their pre-event servicing, the team said on Friday.
Nico Rosberg beat title favourite Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the decisive Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday as the dominant Mercedes team mates locked out the front row in qualifying.
