Win in Brazil on Sunday, win the Formula One title: Nico Rosberg's task sounds simple enough but is a lot harder to achieve.
Hamilton's flying lap of one minute 22.188 seconds set a new record at Albert Park but was only 0.268 seconds in front of German Vettel, offering the tantalising prospect of a competitive championship after three years of domination by the Silver Arrows.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen back on the podium to deny Mercedes another one-two finish under the floodlights.
Ferrari are planning to add female racers to their expanding young driver programme as they seek to develop talent for the future.
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.
Given how well Hamilton drove last weekend to win the Styrian GP in Austria, few would bet against the British driver securing an eighth success
Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg joining the triple Formula One world champion on the front row. On a damp and overcast Sao Paulo afternoon, it was the 60th pole of the Briton's career, eight short of Michael Schumacher's record, and his first in Brazil since 2012 when he was at McLaren. With his title on the line, it was also one of Hamilton's most important in a roller-coaster season marked by mechanical setbacks.
'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'
Germany's Nico Rosberg chalked up his 10th pole position of the season on Saturday after beating team mate Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes sweep of the front row in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton has raised his game but whether the Mercedes driver can deny Ferrari a second successive win of the season in China this weekend remains to be seen.
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.
'I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me be here, to raise the bar and lift the cup'
Mercedes are expected to wrap up the constructors' championship on Sunday with three races to spare, having won 12 of the 15 so far with eight one-two finishes.
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.
Jenson Button hailed Honda's latest power unit as a good step forward for McLaren after completing 121 laps and finishing fifth fastest on the second day of Formula One's final pre-season test on Wednesday.
Finland's Valtteri Bottas seized the first Formula One victory of his career at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday after jumping both Ferraris at the start and then holding his nerve over the tense closing laps.
Formula One is considering holding closed races without spectators, most likely at European circuits, once the season is able to start after being stalled by the new coronavirus pandemic. Formula One has brought forward and extended its August break from March through to May to clear the European summer for a rescheduled calendar that could see races on successive weekends and into the New Year.
The win was the third of the Finn's career and season, denying Hamilton a 10th of the campaign.
Lewis Hamilton has had more success in Shanghai than any other Formula One driver, which makes Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix the ideal location for the triple world champion to end Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg's winning streak. While Rosberg has started the season with a perfect 50 points from two races, and a run of five successive victories dating back to last November, Hamilton is ready to turn the tables. The Briton has won four times in Shanghai and is on for three in a row after last season becoming the only driver to win the race in successive years. "It's not been a smooth start to the season for me, so to be in the championship position I'm in right now is actually pretty positive," said Hamilton, who lies second in the standings after a second and a third place. "Now we go to China for the next battle. It's a track that's been good to me over the years... so hopefully this race can be the turning point." Hamilton has not won since he took his third world championship in Austin, Texas, last October but the 31-year-old has started both races this season on pole position.
Mercedes team mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton renew their sometimes hostile rivalry on the floodlit streets of Singapore this weekend at a circuit where mistakes or collisions normally result in race retirement.
Germany's Nico Rosberg celebrated his first Formula One world championship on Sunday after finishing runner-up in a tense Abu Dhabi Grand Prix won by Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton amid accusations of 'dirty tricks'.
Lewis Hamilton collected his champion's trophy at a glittering gala in Paris after ending the year in touching distance of Michael Schumacher's records for wins and titles.
Formula One is feeling a fresh wave of optimism under its new owners, while Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are the two most popular drivers, according to an extensive fan survey released on Friday.
Germany's Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on pole position for the US Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with championship leading team mate Lewis Hamilton qualifying second. Mercedes-powered Williams filled the second row with Finland's Valtteri Bottas third fastest and Brazilian Felipe Massa fourth.
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.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrated his first Formula One pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Fernando Alonso made a troubled start to testing McLaren's new Formula One car
The French Formula One Grand Prix will return in 2018 after a 10-year absence with the race scheduled to take place at the Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France, regional politician Christian Estrosi said.
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.
Nico Rosberg said it was 'business as usual' after beating Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the fourth race in a row on Saturday in the first Formula One qualifying held in Mexico since 1992
Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton smashed the Suzuka track record to seize a dominant Japanese Grand Prix pole position on Saturday with Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel lining up alongside on the front row.
Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural Russian Formula One Grand Prix and extended his championship lead on Sunday in a Mercedes one-two that clinched the team's first constructors' title.
Susie Wolff made her full test debut with former champions Williams on Friday, the biggest step by a woman driver in Formula One for more than 20 years, with race regulars paying her compliments.
The Formula One season winds up in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with both titles won, Lewis Hamilton aiming to close the year on a winning note and big money still at stake for those further down the paddock pecking order.
Lewis Hamilton has competed with Alonso, Raikkonen, Button, Rosberg, Schumacher and Vettel, champions all of them, and he has come out on top.
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene welcomed back the Kimi Raikkonen of old on Sunday.
In a statement explaining how the tyres are marked at their Turkish factory with embedded and traceable bar codes that cannot be swapped, Pirelli said their process was designed to be tamper-proof and random.
Lewis Hamilton won a dramatic Russian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday to take a huge step towards his third world championship after Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg retired with throttle failure.
Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton took a record 69th Formula One pole position with a wet weather masterclass at the Italian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver was fastest in every phase of qualifying to take pole with a time of one minute 42.553 seconds, a track record.
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