Hamilton, who had also topped Saturday morning's final practice session, never look like being challenged throughout the qualifying hour.
Lewis Hamilton moved within reach of a fourth Formula One world championship on Sunday after winning a Japanese Grand Prix that saw Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel retire with engine problems.
Formula One teams will operate in bubbles within bubbles when the season starts behind closed doors in Austria next week after being stalled since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be no spectators, no sponsors or VIP guests wandering the paddock and limited social interaction even between team mates.
Nico Rosberg crossed the line a mammoth 37.7 seconds ahead of German compatriot Sebastian Vettel, who recovered after colliding with his Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner, to claim his third win from three races this season.
Brazilian Felipe Massa put Williams on top on the penultimate day of pre-season testing in Bahrain on Saturday while Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel failed to complete a lap.
Max Verstappen lapped with a best time of one minute 27.422 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton took his 98th career pole position in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday
Lewis Hamilton won in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and took championship lead.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz claimed his first Formula One victory on Sunday in a thrilling British Grand Prix halted by a first-lap crash and with the added mayhem of a track invasion by protesters.
Ferrari announced a restructuring of their Formula One technical department on Wednesday after struggling in the first three races of a season so far dominated by Mercedes. The sport's oldest, most glamorous and successful team -- last year's runners-up -- are fifth in the championship with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc pushed into more of a midfield battle.
Red Bull's Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix from 10th on the starting grid on Sunday as Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc suffered another strategy nightmare.
Sebastian Vettel has lived through a number of false dawns at Ferrari but bright sunshine bathed the team's garage after the German's Australian Grand Prix victory on Sunday.
The Ferrari driver's best time of one minute 16.231 seconds was close to the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix pole time by Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes.
Red Bull closed the gap to champions Mercedes in the constructors' standings to one point.
Formula One drivers sought reassurance from tyre supplier Pirelli on Friday after world champion Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso suffered punctures in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix from pole position for Red Bull on Sunday.
Final practice for the Formula One Grand Prix was twice delayed on Saturday due to smog shrouding the circuit and preventing the medical helicopter from operating.
Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes Formula One team can live up to their advance billing as favourites when the season starts in Australia next week.
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.
Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus was fined 400 euros for speeding in the pit lane during the first practice session of the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida.
New boy Vettel plays down Ferrari hopes in Melbourne.
By virtue of this show, Sahara Force India collected six points from the race and consolidate its fourth position at the Constructor's standings with 101 points.
Red Bull's Mexican Sergio Perez was a distant third, struggling with dehydration after a water bottle failure in the Texas heat.
Ferrari will present their new Formula One car online on January 30, a day after McLaren take the wraps off their Honda-powered challenger.
Mercedes won the Formula One constructors' title for the fourth year in a row on Sunday but Lewis Hamilton was made to wait despite cruising to a U.S. Grand Prix victory at one of his favourite circuits.
Lewis Hamilton pulverised the track record to claim pole position on Saturday ahead of a US Grand Prix that could secure the Mercedes driver's fourth Formula One world championship.
Daniel Ricciardo claimed his maiden Formula One win of the season in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix after reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton retired from the lead with a blown engine. The Australian's Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen finished second to score the former champions' first one-two finish since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix, denying Mercedes the chance to wrap up the constructors' title at the Sepang circuit.
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 won the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday after French driver Romain Grosjean had a miraculous escape from a fiery first-lap crash that ripped his car in two.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claimed pole position at the end of Qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso had precautionary checks in hospital after hurting his back on a heavy jolt over the kerbs at the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
Daniel Ricciardo is of Italian descent and has long been considered an obvious target for Ferrari,
The Nuerburgring circuit will not host the German Formula One Grand Prix this year, an official for the company said on Thursday after Hockenheim also ruled out the possibility.
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.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be doing all he can to stop six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton completing a Mercedes hat-trick and matching another of Michael Schumacher's Formula One records in Hungary this weekend.
Marchionne writes off Ferrari's season of failure
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.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has received a flurry of criticism from the Formula One world, including legendary driver Niki Lauda who asked him to consult a psychiatrist after the teenage driver was involved in a three-car collision in last week's Belgian Grand Prix.
A decade on from their last driver's title, courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, Ferrari emerged from eight days of testing in Spain with the fastest lap times coupled with impressive reliability.
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