McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took his first Formula One victory on Sunday, keeping his cool in a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix to take the outright lead in the championship.
BMW Sauber have ruled out using test driver Sebastian Vettel for Friday practice at grand prix weekends for the time being as they challenge McLaren and Ferrari.
The Canadian driver will lose 10 places on the Australian GP after his team confirmed engine change for Saturday qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton turned in a blistering drive in his McLaren to top the timesheets in final practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Finn pipped the seven times champion by just 0.002 seconds.
Robert Kubica will become the first Pole to start a Formula One race when he replaces Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Red Bull's Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen took the chequered flag in second place with Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium for Ferrari and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth for Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso fired off a warning to his rivals on Friday by lapping quickest in the French GP free practice.
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has said the 'door at Maranello will always be open' for Michael Schumacher's son Mick should the German prospect follow in his father's footsteps and progress to Formula One.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Lewis Hamilton took a big step towards a second Formula One World championship on Sunday with his 10th win of the season in a US Grand Prix that saw Mercedes equal the record for one-two finishes. The Briton stretched his lead over team mate Nico Rosberg to 24 points with two races and 75 points remaining, a gap that guarantees the title chase will go down to the final round in Abu Dhabi whatever happens in Brazil.
Renault, Honda, Toyota, McLaren-Mercedes and BMW-Sauber will not be guaranteed one of the 12 team slots if they failed to sign up in time.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
The Jordan driver clocked 1 minute and 36.707 seconds to qualify 15th for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Williams have appointed experienced German racer Adrian Sutil as reserve driver for the season, the Formula One team said on Thursday.
The Formula One team hopes the heavily revised car will allow them to challenge Red Bull and Sauber.
Mark Webber seized pole position for the floodlit Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday with Red Bull team-mate and quadruple World Champion Sebastian Vettel making a rare error and having to settle for second best.
Daniel Ricciardo kept calm and carried on to win a tense Monaco Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday after power unit problems threatened to wreck his hopes of victory in Formula One's showcase race.
Lewis Hamilton's world championship defence got off to a flying start on Sunday with a crushing victory for Mercedes in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as Formula One rivals succumbed to a farcical rash of reliability problems.
Ferrari's new team principal Mattia Binotto said earlier in the year that Vettel, as the team's "champion", would be given priority over Leclerc in certain racing situations, though he later clarified the drivers would be "free to fight".
Formula One starts a new season in Australia on March 15 with a number of changes to the rules and regulations, as well as new faces in the paddock. Check out what's different for 2015.
The Formula One season starts in Australia on March 17 with new regulations, changed lineups, a trio of young rookies fresh from Formula Two and the comeback of Poland's Robert Kubica.
The two drivers are vying for a place alongside Australian Mark Webber at BMW-Williams for next season.
Germany's Nick Heidfeld was second fastest as he did his best to impress Williams in a wet and windy Formula One test session.
Lewis Hamilton won in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and took championship lead.
Sergio Perez expects to have his Formula One future decided before next month's Malaysian Grand Prix and said on Thursday that he is currently weighing up two options.
"We have been offered deals that are absolutely fine with what we wanted," said the Sauber driver's manager.
In a thrilling race with two safety car periods, reigning champion Hamilton went from pole position to the rear of the field before finishing second for Mercedes in a superb fightback. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday.
Ferrari could lead other Formula One teams into an alternative championship if the sport becomes too much like the US-based NASCAR series.
Force India had something to cheer about. Paul Di Resta delivered a great result for Sahara Force India by finishing sixth, his second-best of the season, while Adrian Sutil came 10th in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Mexico's Sergio Perez will have a seven place starting grid penalty at next weekend's Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix as punishment for reckless driving in Sunday's US race.
