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.
The 18-year-old, preparing for only his sixth Grand Prix weekend, lapped with a best time of one minute 26.482 seconds to pip McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds.
McLaren's Lando Norris swept to victory in a wet and wild Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off defending champion Max Verstappen in a white-knuckle finish to a Formula One season-opener littered with crashes and safety cars.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll collected a one-place grid drop for Sunday's race after stewards ruled the Canadian was to blame for the collision with Leclerc running into him at the hairpin.
Days after the Red Bull driver and partner Kelly Piquet welcomed daughter Lily, his first child, the four-times champion set a blistering lap of one minute 26.204 seconds around the Hard Rock Stadium.
Verstappen crossed the line in his Red Bull for his 64th Grand Prix victory to a huge ovation from the 115,000 crowd some 1.4 seconds ahead of McLaren's championship leader Lando Norris in second place.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris topped the times for McLaren as four red flags, two caused by trackside grass fires, wreaked havoc with the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday.
Max Verstappen sees no need to change the way he goes racing despite the threat of a race ban hanging over him at the Canadian Grand Prix.
World champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, stunning the McLarens with a late flying lap.
Ferrari's underwhelming pace was a surprise to their rivals and to Hamilton, whose quickest lap in the final qualifying session (Q3) was nearly nine-tenths of a second slower than Norris's.
McLaren's Formula One leader Lando Norris called himself an idiot after crashing in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, and he stuck by the self-criticism when talking to reporters afterwards.
It was the first time in seven races that Ferrari had failed to get at least one of their cars into the top 10.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his first Formula One win for Ferrari after leading a Chinese Grand Prix sprint from start to finish in only his second race for the Italian team on Saturday.
Lando Norris won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to deliver McLaren's first Formula One constructors' title since 1998
'Tomorrow's going to be a challenge, I've never driven this car in the rain.'
Max Verstappen was surprised by his Red Bull car's performance as the F1 defending champion took third place in qualifying for the season-opening race.
Carlos Sainz completed a double race distance for previously struggling Williams and pushed his Ferrari successor Lewis Hamilton off the top of the testing
Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri, who spun off and finished ninth in his home race last Sunday after starting on the front row and challenging for the lead, has another good chance to rev up his season.
Drivers returned to the pits, under a darkening sky, with engineers using torches in the garages before back-up generators came on and the session resumed about an hour later.
Lewis Hamilton smashed the Shanghai circuit lap record on his way to a stunning first sprint race pole for Ferrari in China on Friday.
McLaren's Lando Norris took pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix sprint on Friday with Mercedes' George Russell denying the Formula One leaders a front row.
Lando Norris led a McLaren front row sweep in qualifying for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday
McLaren could clinch their first constructors' crown since 1998 on Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by 21 points at the Qatar F1 Grand Prix.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday with the battle for the constructor's title going down to next weekend's Abu Dhabi season-ender
The pole was the 26th of Charles Leclerc's career, and third of the season.
Red Bull are concerned about their constructors' title defence being weakened at a time when McLaren are emerging as a threat
Mercedes' George Russell celebrated a surprise Austrian Grand Prix win on Sunday after Red Bull's triple world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris collided late in the race
The final phase of qualifying was halted, with only Piastri and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg having set times, when Sainz slammed backwards into the barriers at the final corner as he prepared to start his flying lap.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first home winner
Lando Norris roared to his second successive pole position, and third in four races, in a McLaren front row sweep with team mate Oscar Piastri
Red Bull's triple world champion Max Verstappen followed up a Saturday sprint win with a statement pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, with McLaren's Lando Norris again alongside on the front row.
Lewis Hamilton will bring down the curtain on his Mercedes career in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as his past and future Formula One teams, McLaren and Ferrari, fight for a constructors' title to end years of waiting.
Max Verstappen, who could seal his fourth successive championship on Saturday, will line up fifth on the starting grid
Mercedes driver George Russell has been disqualified and lost his Belgium Grand Prix win on Sunday, after his car was found to be underweight, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton was promoted to first place.
Red Bull make changes to car after discussions with FIA
Red Bull's Verstappen, who had been on pole at Zandvoort every year since the circuit returned in 2021 and has yet to be beaten there, will still line up alongside the Briton on the front row.
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.
McLaren's Lando Norris dominated the Singapore Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to take another chunk out of Max Verstappen's Formula One championship lead.
Leclerc was 11 seconds clear with seven laps to go and 8.3 ahead with five remaining as the massed ranks of 'tifosi' willed him on.
McLaren's Lando Norris hailed the best qualifying lap of his career after beating F1 leader Max Verstappen to pole position at the US Grand Prix.
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