Rediff.com takes you in flashback as we rewind the best from the sporting world in the week gone by.
Critically injured French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi is no longer in an artificial coma but remains unconscious, his family said in a statement on Wednesday.
Nico Rosberg is refusing to get carried away by thoughts of celebrating a maiden Formula One title triumph at the end of the season, despite getting one hand on the championship crown with victory in the Japanese Grand Prix. The German eased to a maiden win from pole position at the Suzuka circuit on Sunday, chalking up his ninth win of the year, to lift himself 33 points clear of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the overall standings.
Ferrari and McLaren stand to lose millions as a result of the collapse of the Marussia Formula One team, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.
The victory at Suzuka was the Dutch driver's 13th in 16 races this season and left him on the brink of a third world title.
Nico Rosberg's 30th pole position of his career was the German's third in a row at Suzuka as Mercedes, who can wrap up a third successive constructors' title on Sunday, claimed first place on the grid for the 52nd time in the last 54 races.
Valtteri Bottas roared to victory in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday as Mercedes clinched the Formula One constructors' championship for the sixth year in a row.
Niki Lauda pondered the mystery of the disappearing Mercedes on Sunday after Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished one-two in the Japanese Grand Prix but barely featured in television coverage.
French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi has died of critical head injuries.
Australian Mark Webber led a Red Bull front row sweep on Saturday and denied team mate and Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel a fifth successive Japanese Grand Prix pole position in Suzuka.
Jules Bianchi, who went into a coma after suffering brain injuries in a horrific crash in Japan last October, recorded his first points for Marussia at the Monaco GP last season.
As another eventful year draws to a close, Rediff.com gives you a pictorial look back at the best and worst moments that shaped the sports stories this year.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez scored his second win of the season in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as title favourite Max Verstappen was forced to put his championship champagne on ice after finishing seventh.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton won a wet and sombre Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to extend his Formula One lead over Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg to 10 points with four races remaining.
Miami makes its debut in May while Qatar drops off for a year due to hosting the football World Cup and China is still missing due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Formula One will have a record 24 races next season with Las Vegas making its floodlit debut in November and Monaco signing a new deal to secure its place on the calendar until at least 2025.
Marussia's hopes of rising from the dead to race in next month's Formula One season-opener in Australia have suffered a setback after rivals rejected a proposal to let them compete with last year's car.
However intense the pain felt by Formula One after Jules Bianchi's horrific accident in Japan, and the shock is deep indeed, Friday's inaugural Russian Grand Prix practice offers some respite.
Sahara Force India had mixed results in the qualifying for Japanese Grand Prix as Paul Di Resta qualified in 12th place while Adrian Sutil secured P17 but was pushed back to 20th on the grid following a grid-penalty.
Jenson Button hit back at Niki Lauda on Saturday after the Austrian Formula One great suggested the driver had told him he wanted to stay at McLaren next year and any uncertainty was about money.
"I'm just extremely grateful that I'm here, and tonight I'm going to call my family and all my loved ones. I passed two metres from that crane. If, I had been two metres to the left, I would have been dead."
Rediff.com brings you the second instalment of the Best Sports Photos of the Year!
Australia was given a new date of Nov. 21 for the race in Melbourne.
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.
Fernando Alonso on Thursday refused to categorically rule out leaving current team Ferrari as soon as next season for either former outfit McLaren or reigning champions Red Bull.
Japan's round of the MotoGP championship, which was due to take place on October 18 at Motegi after the F1 race at Suzuka on October 11, had already been cancelled due to the expected extension of a travel ban.
Yamaha's Valentino Rossi will try to make a race return in Spain this weekend, three weeks after breaking his leg in an off-road training accident, if MotoGP doctors give him the green light.
The 1998 and 1999 F1 champion was the slowest man on the track in his first test for McLaren in more than five years.
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.
2016 F1 calendar to feature record 21-race campaign
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg had a Singapore Grand Prix to forget on Sunday when the German crashed out after 12 laps following a collision with Felipe Massa's Williams and was immediately given a grid penalty for the next race.
Nico Rosberg suffered a major blow to his chances of a first Formula One title when he retired from Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix after only 14 laps and lost his lead in the championship to race winner Lewis Hamilton.
'It's still a long way to go and I know I lost some points today but I was fast and on form and I will make sure I bring that out to Suzuka to fight back'
Indian driver Arjun Maini's road to Formula 1 has become tougher with his shock switch to sports car racing.
Force India Formula One team boss Vijay Mallya feels beating McLaren for fifth spot in the team standings will be a 'big task' in the remaining four races of the season.
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.
The German secured his first pole since Spain in May when the red flags came out with 36 seconds remaining, leaving team mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton no chance of claiming a 12th pole in 14 races.
Formula One drivers have backed proposals to introduce a 'virtual safety car' or automatic speed limiter that would force the entire field to slow when yellow warning flags are waved.
Marussia will race with only one car in Sunday's Russian Formula One Grand Prix out of respect for their severely injured French driver Jules Bianchi, the team said on Friday.
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