A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Five-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes front-row lockout with a blistering pole position at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday.
Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta made their apologies to rivals and colleagues on Sunday after a disappointing Korean Grand Prix for the Formula One team.
Lewis Hamilton has had more success in Shanghai than any other Formula One driver, which makes Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix the ideal location for the triple world champion to end Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg's winning streak. While Rosberg has started the season with a perfect 50 points from two races, and a run of five successive victories dating back to last November, Hamilton is ready to turn the tables. The Briton has won four times in Shanghai and is on for three in a row after last season becoming the only driver to win the race in successive years. "It's not been a smooth start to the season for me, so to be in the championship position I'm in right now is actually pretty positive," said Hamilton, who lies second in the standings after a second and a third place. "Now we go to China for the next battle. It's a track that's been good to me over the years... so hopefully this race can be the turning point." Hamilton has not won since he took his third world championship in Austin, Texas, last October but the 31-year-old has started both races this season on pole position.
Lewis Hamilton can set more British Formula One records in Brazil this weekend but it is the world championship he wants and that will have to wait.
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on pole position for their home Italian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday in a qualifying session that ended in farce and with drivers under investigation.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on Sunday banned all Russians from its own Games next month because of the widespread doping culture that it says has polluted sport in the country.
Take a look at the factbox on Mercedes driver and Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.
Stefano Domenicali resigned as Ferrari's Formula One team principal on Monday, and the company's North America president and chief executive Marco Mattiacci was appointed as his replacement.
Finland's Valtteri Bottas took his first Formula One pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday with a sizzling lap that ended Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton's bid for a seventh in a row.
The timing of the news immediately triggered speculation that Frenchman Eric Boullier could be heading to McLaren, who were due to launch their 2014 car later in the day in an online presentation.
Niki Lauda pondered the mystery of the disappearing Mercedes on Sunday after Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished one-two in the Japanese Grand Prix but barely featured in television coverage.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position for Mercedes on Sunday to go into the August break with a 24-point lead over Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel.
British media reports have suggested the new deal could be worth up to 40 million pounds ($52 million) a year and is likely to make the four-time F1 champion the sport's top earner.
Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday and ended team mate Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a hat-trick.
Defending champions Netherlands will face Germany, while Britain take on New Zealand in the women's hockey semi-finals of the Rio Olympics on Wednesday.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton eased his Mercedes to a dominant victory in the German Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday and secured his fourth victory in a row.
Nico Rosberg ended the Formula One season on a winning high in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with team mate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton following him home in a record 12th one-two finish for dominant Mercedes.
Sahara Force India had a disappointing outing as Adrian Sutil managed 14th while team mate Paul di Resta was two places below at 16th in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, on Sunday.
Rediff.com's Hitesh Harisinghani and Ashish Narsale give us a sneak peak into some of its latest features from its launch event in Bengaluru.
Sebastian Vettel led a Red Bull one-two in Friday's first free practice for an Indian Grand Prix that looks sure to secure the German a fourth successive Formula One title.
No woman has competed in Formula One since 1976 but organisers of the 'W Series' hope to provide a platform for them to develop skills before taking on the men further up the motorsport ladder. The idea of an all-female series is not new but has been controversial in the past, with top women racers adamant they want to compete against the men rather than be separated.
Lewis Hamilton's record already bears comparison to Michael Schumacher's, and in some areas exceeds the great German's achievements.
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.
'For him to live the life that he is living and still keep up with such a performance, full credit to him'
Hamilton, Bottas's team mate, started in eighth place after a grid penalty triggered by an unscheduled gearbox change and finished fourth.
Formula One's record 22 race calendar for 2014 is 'beyond the limit' for teams but looks likely to be trimmed before it becomes definitive, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Lewis Hamilton took a huge stride towards a fourth Formula One title on Sunday with victory in an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix after Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out at the start.
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.
'I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me be here, to raise the bar and lift the cup'
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Lewis Hamilton's third Formula One world championship also serves as a reminder of how remarkable Michael Schumacher's achievements were, his former Ferrari boss Jean Todt said on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Lewis Hamilton has hailed Max Verstappen's stunning success in Formula One and called on those criticising the Dutch teenager's driving to keep a sense of perspective.
World champion Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets for Mercedes in both practice sessions of the Australian Grand Prix on Friday but team mate Nico Rosberg crashed as waterlogged conditions put a dampener on Formula One's season opener.
Finland's Valtteri Bottas seized the first Formula One victory of his career at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday after jumping both Ferraris at the start and then holding his nerve over the tense closing laps.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix to go seven points clear at the top of the Formula One standings on Sunday, with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton staging a late charge to finish second.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Sebastian Vettel's hopes of vaulting back into the overall Formula One world championship lead were wrecked by a first corner collision on the opening lap of the Singapore Grand Prix.
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