Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified third with team mate Sebastian Vettel a distant seventh on a distinctly off day for the German.
Formula One got back on track in changed circumstances on Friday but with Mercedes bringing a familiar look to the timing sheets as six times World champion Lewis Hamilton led team mate Valtteri Bottas one-two in Austrian Grand Prix free practice. The Briton did 41 laps and lapped with a best time of one minute 04.816 seconds in a damp and overcast session, 0.356 faster than the Finn.
All 112 matches of the 'NZ Premier League' will be played in Auckland without spectators but broadcast live on Sky Sport or the Youtube channel, Sky Sport Next, Tennis New Zealand said on Monday.
The front row lockout was a record-equalling 65th for champions Mercedes.
The race has been won from pole eight times out of 11 editions.
Lewis Hamilton won the Monaco Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday, nursing his car's worn tyres to the finish in a nail-biting victory worthy of the team's late great Niki Lauda.
Hamilton already had more race wins, pole positions and podium finishes than any other driver in the history of the sport.
Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix to seize the overall lead from his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas in Formula One's 1,000th world championship race on Sunday.
Images from Day 7 of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday.
Roger Federer claimed the 100th ATP title of his career by beating 20-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday.
Six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton and his team will take centre stage, hoping for another year of dominance after winning both titles for the past six years and ending up fastest in winter testing. Ferrari can be trusted to provide plenty of headlines with four-times champion Sebastian Vettel fighting to reassert himself at the team after being outshone by quick newcomer Leclerc, a double winner in 2019.
'I was never Mad Max. I was just Max who was trying to get the best result for the team'
Lewis Hamilton collected his champion's trophy at a glittering gala in Paris after ending the year in touching distance of Michael Schumacher's records for wins and titles.
Hamilton has won the last three races, out of four so far in this COVID-19 affected season, and will start as favourite again.
It was a repeat of the 34-year-old's straight sets victory over Andy Murray in the second round of the US Open in August.
After a brief interruption when the players were locked at 5-5 in the opening set, Federer saved two set points in the tiebreak and held firm to gain the upper hand in the contest.
Roger Federer was made to work hard by Fernando Verdasco before beating the Spanish veteran 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrated his first Formula One pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Serena Williams recovered from a set down to beat Australian Ashleigh Barty 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and book a place in the third round.
It was the Russian's first competitive match since she withdrew from the St Petersburg Open in January.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Valtteri Bottas won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday and retook the Formula One lead from team mate Lewis Hamilton after a fourth successive one-two finish for Mercedes.
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.
Images from Day 5 of the Wimbledon tennis championships played in London, on Friday.
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
IMAGES from the Australian Open on Tuesday.
