Germany's Nico Rosberg gave Mercedes their third pole position in succession on Saturday with a front row lockout at the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix.
The race has been won from pole eight times out of 11 editions.
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.
Ferrari were the fastest in pre-season testing, raising suspicions that their new SF70H car has closed the chasm between Mercedes and the rest.
Lewis Hamilton kept championship leader Sebastian Vettel off the top of the timesheets in both Friday practice sessions for the Korean Formula One Grand Prix while Kimi Raikkonen slammed his Lotus into a tyre wall.
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.
The 2019 Formula One world championship starts on March 17 with 21 races in a season that ends later than any since 1963.
Three rookies are set to make their race debuts and Azarbaijan will make it's Formula One debut even as Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg pose to challenge odds on favourite Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton is on course for his most successful campaign yet and can become only the third driver after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel to win 13 times in a season.
Formula One legend, Niki Lauda, thinks it's going to be a tighter fight between them, because the latter wants to make sure now he can beat the Briton.
Lewis Hamilton lapped in a league of his own on Saturday to seize pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix with Mercedes team mate and championship favourite Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row.
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.
World champion Lewis Hamilton, back in the car after his COVID-19-enforced absence at last week's Sakhir Grand Prix, was third but only 0.086 seconds off the pace.
Germany's Nico Rosberg won the Italian Grand Prix for dominant Mercedes on Sunday to cut teammate Lewis Hamilton's Formula One world championship lead to two points with seven races remaining.
Valtteri Bottas won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday and retook the Formula One lead from team mate Lewis Hamilton after a fourth successive one-two finish for Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton believes Charles Leclerc has usurped four times world champion team mate Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari's favourite.
The Finn was a mere 0.006 of a second quicker than the five times world champion as the two Silver Arrows once again locked out the front row of the grid on a cloudy afternoon at Silverstone.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix for a record sixth time on Sunday to stretch his lead over Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to 39 points.
Lewis Hamilton landed an early psychological blow ahead of Formula One's Abu Dhabi title showdown by lapping faster than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in both Friday practice sessions.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc held off Lewis Hamilton to win his first Formula One race on Sunday in the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.
Champions Mercedes are chasing a sixth successive double, and Lewis Hamilton his sixth drivers' title, but the task looks tougher than ever.
Lewis Hamilton won the Mexican Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, his landmark 51st career victory cutting Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg's overall lead to 19 points and keeping the German waiting for a first title. The pole-to-flag victory was the triple world champion's eighth of the season and put him level with France's Alain Prost in the all-time lists of winners. Only Michael Schumacher (91) has more. Rosberg, who would have clinched the title had he won and Hamilton finished 10th or lower, crossed the line 8.354 seconds behind to anchor champions Mercedes to a sixth one-two finish of the season.
Hamilton has won half of the season's 20 races so far, propelling his team to an unprecedented sixth successive title double, but Brazil was a disappointing weekend with Valtteri Bottas retiring.
Silverstone can provide the antidote to Austria for Lewis Hamilton this weekend, with a record sixth British Grand Prix win -- and his fifth in a row -- there for the taking.
One winning streak ended with a bang for Nico Rosberg in Spain but Monaco's tight, metal-fenced streets could see the continuation of another remarkable run for the Formula One championship leader on Sunday.
World champion Nico Rosberg's retirement announcement on Friday came as a complete surprise even to the man who knows most of Formula One's best-kept secrets, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
The Finn lapped the six-km Baku street circuit in one minute, 40.495 seconds, just 0.059 seconds faster than team mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
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.
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.
Win in Brazil on Sunday, win the Formula One title: Nico Rosberg's task sounds simple enough but is a lot harder to achieve.
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.
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 world champion Lewis Hamilton was quickest for Mercedes in a rainswept final US Grand Prix practice session on Saturday that was held behind closed doors due to the weather conditions.
Nico Rosberg put his Texas blues behind him on Sunday to win the first Mexican Grand Prix in 23 years and show triple world champion Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton how it feels to finish second.
Before the start, Hamilton had spoken of Hungary fast becoming one of his favourite circuits.
The clock is ticking for some of Formula One's big name drivers, with world champions and race winners out of contract at the end of the season and a restless young generation eager to take their places.
Formula One's 'halo' head protection device makes its race debut this season in a 21-round championship with France and Germany back on the calendar and some new faces joining the old favourites on the starting grid.
Lewis Hamilton was 'shocked' with the pace of Mercedes after notching a record-extending eighth pole position at the Australian Grand Prix ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas as they thrashed their Formula One rivals in qualifying on Saturday.
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.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances