Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton ousted Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg from the top of the timesheets in Italian Grand Prix free practice on Friday. The Briton, chasing his 50th grand prix win on Sunday, enjoyed a sunny afternoon at the Monza circuit with a fastest lap of one minute 22.801 seconds on the supersoft tyres after being second to Rosberg in the morning. Rosberg quickest effort then was a 1:22.959, with the German lapping in 1:22.994 after lunch.
Six times world champion Lewis Hamilton can expect a quicker car when the Formula One season finally starts in Austria next month, with Mercedes promising plenty of updates. The W11 car unveiled in February has yet to race, with the season delayed since March by the COVID-19 pandemic, and team technical director James Allison said months' worth of improvements are in the pipeline.
Stewards were investigating whether the Mercedes driver, who won from 14th on the grid, illegally crossed a line separating the entry from the track when he hurriedly changed his mind about pitting during a safety car period.
'I really do believe this weekend we will be in a better position than we were last year'
Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton celebrated his first win of the Formula One season in a crash-filled Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
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 made the comments in an interview to the BBC in reference to Formula 1 embracing new countries to hold races.
Sunday's explosive Azerbaijan Grand Prix more than made up for last year's dull race in Baku, bursting the budding 'bromance' and replacing it with something much more heavyweight.
Sport and society remain stuck in the 'stone age' when it comes to women's rights, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday.
Images from the Tuscan F1 Grand Prix held at at Mugello, Scarperia e San Piero in Tuscany, Italy, 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.
Lewis Hamilton landed an early psychological blow ahead of Formula One's Abu Dhabi title showdown by lapping faster than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in both Friday practice sessions.
Lewis Hamilton was made to wait for his fifth Formula One world championship, on Sunday, after the Mercedes driver finished only third in a US Grand Prix won by Ferrari veteran Kimi Raikkonen.
Bookmakers William Hill have the Briton as 15/8 favourite for the 2018 drivers championship, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel at 3/1 and Red Bull's Max Verstappen at 10/3.
Max Verstappen won Red Bull's home Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday while Lewis Hamilton suffered his first race retirement since 2016 and lost the Formula One championship lead to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
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.
Briton now 18 wins away from Michael Schumacher's all-time record
Lewis Hamilton refused to take questions from the media after qualifying second for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix due to "disrespectful" criticism of his behaviour during a news conference two days ago.
Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday to dash Mercedes' hopes of extending their dominance into a fourth successive season of Formula One.
Hamilton, who clinched his fourth world championship in Mexico two weeks ago, started from the pitlane after crashing in qualifying but led the race after 31 of 71 laps when others pitted.
World Champion Lewis Hamilton will start the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton did 94 laps of Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on the soft C2 compound in a sunny afternoon session
Leclerc took pole in Monaco in 2021, but did not start the race due to a driveshaft failure, and 2022 when he ended up fourth.
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi were declared joint winners of the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award in Berlin on Monday, with the voting tied for the first time in the awards' 20-year history. Mercedes driver Hamilton won his sixth world championship in 2019, with 11 race wins and 17 podium finishes, while Messi was crowned the world's best player for a record sixth time when he won the Ballon d'Or. American gymnast Simone Biles, who became the most decorated gymnast in world championship history when she won her 25th medal last year, won her third Sportswoman of the Year gong after winning the award in 2017 and 2019.
Lewis Hamilton is hoping rain will come to the rescue as a Hockenheim heatwave threatens to dash Mercedes's hopes of a home German Grand Prix win on Sunday.
The pole was a record-extending 88th of Hamilton's career and fifth of the season.
Hamilton has won half of the season's 20 races so far, propelling his team to an unprecedented sixth successive title double, but Brazil was a disappointing weekend with Valtteri Bottas retiring.
Daniel Ricciardo dashed Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen's hopes of becoming Formula One's youngest ever pole-sitter on Saturday while championship leader Lewis Hamilton qualified third for Mercedes at the Mexican Grand Prix. Hamilton, who need only finish seventh on Sunday to secure his fifth title with two races to spare, will have Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel alongside on the second row.
Lewis Hamilton has one big fight on his hands already this season and he is not spoiling for another, not even for charity and against the man with the broadest smile in Formula One.
Lewis Hamilton was booed on the podium after a last-lap collision with Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg handed the triple Formula One world champion a dramatic first Austrian Grand Prix victory on Sunday.
'I was actually with Serena last week in LA ... she came out to Mexico (for the race) which for me was a real honour to have someone of her power, someone who has achieved so much' 'Venus talks a lot about wisdom and about her growth and about the process of being a sportsman or sportswoman so generally from both of them, I take a lot of inspiration and admire them both hugely'
Bottas said he was already looking forward to next season despite the fact there are still two races left on the current calendar.
Valtteri Bottas announced split from wife Emilia, an Olympic swimmer
World champion Max Verstappen got back to winning ways on Sunday with a third straight pole-to-flag victory at the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix, leading teammate Sergio Perez across the line for a Red Bull 1-2 at Suzuka.
The gap between Mercedes and the rest has narrowed and Ferrari "have something up their sleeve" at this week's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, according to champion Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton, who is also an avid tattoo lover, revealed that each image on his body has a meaning to it.
Verstappen, who had started alongside Norris on the front row, was leading by lap three and could then build a buffer and take control.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday.
'The most important thing, I think, is really about finishing races and analysing and making sure you get as many race points as you can, of course'
Sebastian Vettel made full use of the virtual safety car to sneak in front of Lewis Hamilton midway the race before the German held off the frustrated Briton to win the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
