Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton blamed a rare 'off day' for an error-filled qualifying performance on Saturday at the Baku street circuit that hosts Azerbaijan's first grand prix.
Media reports suggested the McLaren driver, whose wife is Japanese, was likely to announce at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix that he would be leaving Formula One at the end of the year.
Formula One's governing body ordered an immediate clampdown on access to the pit lane on Tuesday after a television cameraman was struck and injured by a bouncing wheel at last weekend's German Grand Prix.
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.
The father of French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi says he is "less optimistic" that his son will recover from the severe head injuries he suffered in a Japanese Grand Prix crash last October.
Next year's season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne has been brought forward to March 20, to allow space for an August break, after previously being listed for a later than usual start on April 3.
Formula One's 2015 season, comprising 20 races, kicks-off in Australia on March 15.
This is the German's 50th career win
Since its inaugural race in 2008 the Singapore Grand Prix has gained a reputation for being the toughest challenge in Formula One, providing drivers with an extreme test of endurance in the trickiest conditions.
India has been dropped as previously announced, with hopes for a comeback in 2015, while Austria is due to make a return after an 11-year break with a race at Spielberg on June 22.
It was Hamilton's third victory of the season and also his third in a row at the sun-bathed but windswept Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton produced a moment of Montreal magic on Saturday to put his Mercedes on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix and equal Ayrton Senna's career haul of 65.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Alonso's last race victory came in 2013, and he hasn't been on the podium since 2014. For arguably one of the best drivers F1 has ever seen, this is the very definition of a legacy unfulfilled, says Chetan Narula.
Formula One takes a step into the unknown this weekend with its first Grand Prix in Azerbaijan but triple world champion Lewis Hamilton hopes the race will take him back to familiar territory.
Lewis Hamilton's lap of one minute 25.892 seconds is a track record at the Silverstone circuit.
Team mate Sebastian Vettel was second fastest to complete the front-row sweep, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.
Max Verstappen was compared to Formula One greats Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher on Sunday after the Dutch teenager's sensational drive to third place in a wet and chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix. Even father and former racer Jos, the 19-year-old Red Bull driver's biggest fan and fiercest critic, was astonished. "What Max showed here today was really special," he said of a race likely to go down in the sport's annals as one for the ages. In the last 15 laps, after a change to extreme wet tyres, Verstappen passed more than half the starting grid as he went from 16th place to the podium.
With its upgraded car set to be rolled out, Force India is hoping for a good show at the British Grand Prix this weekend as it sets its sight on fourth place in the Formula One constructors' championship.
Lewis Hamilton has competed with Alonso, Raikkonen, Button, Rosberg, Schumacher and Vettel, champions all of them, and he has come out on top.
The Mercedes driver is 14 points clear of his rival and fellow four-times world champion after winning in France on Sunday and heads to Spielberg confident of continuing the momentum.
Lewis Hamilton feels he faces "pretty impossible odds" going into Formula One's Abu Dhabi title-decider while Mercedes team mate and rival Nico Rosberg says he will treat Sunday's race like any other. Both are being disingenuous, of course. Hamilton knows he still has a real chance and Rosberg is well aware just how much is at stake. While Rosberg is the favourite to win the 'Duel in the Desert', needing only to finish on the Yas Marina podium to become Germany's third world champion after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, he will still be on tenterhooks.
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's record already bears comparison to Michael Schumacher's, and in some areas exceeds the great German's achievements.
The most successful current racer, in terms of wins if not titles, Hamilton can also equal seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 68 pole positions at Spa on Saturday.
Races in New Jersey, Mexico and South Korea were dropped from Formula One's official 2014 calendar on Wednesday, with the season remaining at 19 races instead of a record 22.
In an afternoon of heroes, Sebastian Vettel played the Bond villain at Silverstone, notes Raja Sen, who returns to Rediff.com as F1 columnist!
Sebastian Vettel handed Ferrari their first Canadian Grand Prix pole position since Michael Schumacher in 2001 on Saturday while Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for Mercedes. Vettel, 14 points behind the Briton, will start from the front for the fourth time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after setting a track record of one minute 10.764 seconds on a sunny afternoon.
The contest for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award promises to be one of the most competitive ever with the likes of Usain Bolt, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Murray vying for top honours.
For a relaxed life, one should head to Germany as four of its cities rank in the top ten.
Fatherhood has changed Sergio Perez's life since the end of last season and the Mexican hopes the coming year in Formula One could be just as transformative on the track.
Even in adversity, with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton romping to five wins in a row and a 24-point lead in the Formula One championship, Nico Rosberg can see the funny side of the situation.
The 34-year-old Grammy-award winning singer even went topless as she was photographed in a swimming pool.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
It has been a tortuous journey for France's Patrice Evra, once blamed for playing a dark role in the worst scandal in the history of the national team but now in the limelight as the wise old man of a team with high hopes.
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.
'It was probably one of the most difficult decisions to take in my career so far. But I thought that it was time for me to take on a fresh and new challenge'
The Sahara Force India celebrated its 100th race in style, scoring seven points with Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil finishing in seventh and 10th places respectively at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
As his personal wealth started booming, Mallya went on a buying spree.
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