Ferrari showed impressive pace during pre-season testing and are considered the team most likely to dethrone Mercedes.
Formula One is due to go through a major technical overhaul next season, with wider wheels and chassis, and a more aggressive look with revised aerodynamics aimed at making the cars faster and harder to drive.
Can Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton add to his record tally of 103 victories?
Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen has announced he will hang up his helmet and gloves and call time on an illustrious Formula One career at the end of the season.
Sebastian Vettel announced on Thursday his retirement from Formula One at the end of the 2022 season.
Carlos Sainz lapped Monza's "Temple of Speed" with a fastest time of one minute 20.294 seconds, 0.013 quicker than Max Verstappen's final flying lap.
Fernando Alonso indicated his Formula One future was in his own hands despite Red Bull announcing on Saturday that four time world champion Sebastian Vettel was leaving to join Ferrari.
Images from the Russian F1 Grand Prix in Sochi on Sunday
Ferrari's times were eye-catching, and quicker than anything from last year's weather-affected first four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Verstappen's hopes of a record-extending 11th successive victory looked a long shot on a city circuit where overtaking is never easy.
Vettel, 17 points behind Hamilton after a commanding win in Belgium last Sunday, has previously triumphed at Monza with Toro Rosso and Red Bull and will fancy his chances of the hat-trick at the super-fast track outside Milan.
Alonso said he had huge respect for Hamilton and had no problems with him.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified fourth with Mexican Sergio Perez, Verstappen's closest title rival and team mate but a massive 151 points adrift after 15 of 22 rounds, fifth and 0.773 off his team mate's pace.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Williams' Valtteri Bottas have all been highlighted in media speculation but 22-year-old German reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein remains the bookmakers' favourite.
More Formula One teams could follow Caterham and Marussia into administration or failure, the former head of the sport's governing body Max Mosley warned on Monday.
The Mercedes driver's 55th career win was hard-fought and tense, however, with Ferrari's Vettel seizing the lead at the start and in the hunt all the way to the finish as the tyre strategies played out.
It is doubtful there has been a more popular winner of a Formula One race in recent years than McLaren's Lando Norris, who was celebrated by everyone from Max Verstappen to Donald Trump following his victory at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
Sebastian Vettel has lived through a number of false dawns at Ferrari but bright sunshine bathed the team's garage after the German's Australian Grand Prix victory on Sunday.
Nico Rosberg denied world champion team mate Lewis Hamilton a fifth pole position in a row by seizing the top slot for Mercedes at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.
Former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn says 70th Anniversary race winner Max Verstappen reminds him of Formula One great Michael Schumacher. Brawn masterminded Schumacher's seven world championships with Benetton (1994 and 1995) and Ferrari (2000-04) and was team boss at Mercedes when the German made his comeback from 2010-2012.
Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position to stretch his Formula One championship lead to 53 points.
Valtteri Bottas seized his first pole position of the Formula One season in Austria on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second.
Lewis Hamilton seized pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday in a damp qualifying session that saw both the Formula One world champion and his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg skid off on their final laps.
Max Verstappen added his name to the list of triple Formula One World champions on Saturday after Red Bull team mate and sole title rival Sergio Perez crashed out of the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race.
Four times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel hopes Ferrari can become the strongest challengers to Mercedes this season after failing to win a race last year.
Max Verstappen took the 50th win of his Formula One career, and record-equalling 15th of the season
Verstappen struggled for grip through qualifying but it all came together in his last effort
Ferrari are still waiting to take the fight to Formula One champions Mercedes after a Russian Grand Prix that left even their dominant rivals surprised by the gap in performance.
Verstappen, who is 145 points clear of team mate Sergio Perez in the championship and set for a third title well before the end of the season, suggested Wolff should focus on his own team.
Verstappen hustled his Honda-powered Red Bull around the popular figure-of-eight layout in one minute, 29.304 seconds
Fernando Alonso reiterated his long-term love and loyalty to Ferrari on Friday after McLaren, the Formula One team he left in acrimonious circumstances in 2007, said they would be keen to sign him.
Monaco authorities have agreed to close the Grand Prix circuit to all traffic and pedestrians from 0645 to 0900.
'We have finalised the investigation into Sebastian Vettel's tyre at Spa. Detailed conclusions from the technical analysis will be presented at Monza'
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen won the inaugural Miami Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday, slashing Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc's overall lead from 27 to 19 points after five races.
Ferrari are closer to Mercedes than results have suggested in this season's two races and look like posing a real challenge, according to Formula One world championship leader Nico Rosberg.
F1 has had only male drivers on the starting grid since 1976 but has made a push for diversity
Michael Schumacher's wife, Corinna, said the Formula One great is "different, but he's here" as the 52-year-old continues his rehabilitation from a brain injury suffered in a skiing accident in December 2013.
'The team is developing and closer together year by year so I hope that this year we get to have a lot of fun -- fun means win a lot of races and then ultimately you are fighting for the championship'
Leclerc's performance on Saturday earned him his sixth pole from eight races so far this season, and fourth in a row.
Nico Rosberg invited Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to attend Mercedes' Friday debrief at the Malaysian Grand Prix after a light-hearted exchange between the Formula One rivals last weekend.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances