Nico Rosberg won a dramatic Australian Grand Prix on Sunday after a bungled tyre strategy dashed Sebastian Vettel's chances of a season-opening triumph and Fernando Alonso survived a spectacular crash that left his McLaren wrecked.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his 50th Formula One victory on Sunday with a pole-to-flag U.S. Grand Prix drive that kept his title hopes alive and trimmed Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg's lead to 26 points with three races remaining. Rosberg, who had been chasing his 10th triumph of the season, finished second on a sunny Texan afternoon with a big crowd but little drama -- even if Hamilton spent much of it worrying about reliability. The straightforward victory was Hamilton's fourth in Texas in five seasons and ended a barren stretch for the triple world champion dating back to his last win in Germany in July.
Germany's Nico Rosberg took a controversial pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday after an incident that denied unhappy Mercedes team mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton the chance to beat him.
Lewis Hamilton will be aiming for a big win in Texas this weekend, even if the Formula One starting grid is the smallest he has ever known it with the absence of backmarker teams Marussia and Caterham.
Red Bull's quadruple World champion Sebastian Vettel seized pole position on Saturday for a US Grand Prix that could see him celebrate a record eighth successive win of the Formula One season.
Team by team prospects for the 2016 Formula One season.
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.