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.
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 at the top of the timesheets for the first free practice session at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, while McLaren's hopes of a clean start were tempered by reliability issues.
The six times world champion took the chequered flag at Imola 5.783 seconds ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas, who started on pole position.
Hamilton is seven points clear of Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas after five of the 21 races.
Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to stretch his championship lead to 30 points over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who fought back to fourth after a first lap spin.
"There's a lot of work that still needs to be done in this sport. "I can't retire now, because I'm only just embarking on helping create a more open and inclusive environment here in this sport and I've got to stay to help that continue." said Hamilton.
After pipping Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel with a lap of one minute 23.599 seconds in the first practice, the Briton shaved almost a second in FP2, his quickest lap clocked at 1:22.60.
Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to win 100 races with a victory in Russia that sent him back on top of the championship.
The pole was the 95th of Hamilton's career and seventh in nine races this season, continuing Mercedes' 100% record in qualifying.
F1 is looking strongly to enter into the lucrative US market
The pole was the 91st of Lewis Hamilton's career and seventh at Silverstone.
The clock is ticking for some of Formula One's big name drivers, with world champions and race winners out of contract at the end of the season and a restless young generation eager to take their places.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Chinese Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday while Ferrari's championship leader Sebastian Vettel finished only eighth.
Daniel Ricciardo is ready for tears, and maybe a few celebratory beers, as the cheerful Australian gears up for his 100th and last race with Red Bull in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Qualifying took place at a sunny Suzuka on Sunday morning after being postponed from its usual Saturday slot due to the approach of Typhoon Hagibis.
German Nico Rosberg eased to victory in a chaotic Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
World champion Lewis Hamilton splashed through the puddles at a rain-soaked Sepang International Circuit to secure pole position for Mercedes in a hectic Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday.
Nico Rosberg won the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix for the second year in a row in a Mercedes one-two finish with team mate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.
The four-time world champion's fifth win of the season for Mercedes left him on 213 points to 189 for Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, and relishing the prospect of a stress-free family holiday.
Lewis Hamilton, the sport's most successful driver of all time and badly affected by the outcome after leading until seven corners from the end, did not attend Thursday night's gala awards ceremony-- a requirement for the championship's top three.
'Just the fact that people have mentioned it, it's already an honour, but it's not been something that I've been chasing in my life'
Formula One's 10 teams will be limited to a maximum 80 people each at races held without spectators when the delayed season gets going in July. Formula One is hoping to start racing behind closed doors in Austria in early July, followed by a number of races in similar conditions elsewhere in Europe.
The 21-year-old is the first Ferrari driver since seven times champion Michael Schumacher to take four consecutive poles in a single season.
Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton dominated practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, putting Mercedes on top of the timesheets and leaving his Formula One rivals with plenty to ponder before the weekend.
Nico Rosberg had his Formula One world championship lead over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton cut to one point after the German was demoted from second to third place in the British Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Briton had won his own fifth championship in Mexico two weeks previously but the broader celebrations were kept in check until Interlagos.
Red Bull have given "a definite no" to four-times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel's hopes of returning to them next year, team boss Christian Horner said on Friday. The German, who is out of contract with Ferrari at the end of the season and facing an uncertain future, had said on Thursday he would say yes to a Red Bull drive if one was offered.
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.
Champions Mercedes are chasing a sixth successive double, and Lewis Hamilton his sixth drivers' title, but the task looks tougher than ever.
Hamilton held off a mid-race challenge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen to register a record-equalling fourth triumph at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit track, while Vettel finished third to slip further behind in the title race.
Sebastian Vettel's Formula One title bid could suffer a further setback after a bizarre post-race incident at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Mercedes were summoned by stewards post-race for the infringement.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, winner of 52 races, has gone more than a year since he tasted victory at last year's Belgian race.
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.
Lewis Hamilton seized pole position in the dying seconds of qualifying for the first Portuguese Grand Prix in 24 years on Saturday to deny and dismay Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas once again.
Lewis Hamilton surpassed Ayrton Senna's career haul of 65 pole positions in Formula One as he edged Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to secure top spot the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday.
'I don't feel like I'm at the end. The next eight months or so I'll find out whether I'm ready to stop or not, I don't think I will personally, but you never know.'
Formula One has said it hopes to get the season started some time in the European summer with a reduced calendar of 15-18 races.
Sports bodies moved quickly to strip Russia of events,
The race has been won from pole eight times out of 11 editions.
