Lewis Hamilton dominated Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position, with a bonus point for fastest lap, to take a five point lead over Bottas, the winner of the Austrian season-opener.
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.
The sky's the limit for George Russell after the British youngster's stellar performance
Perez, who vaulted to fourth in the overall standings after Sunday's race, is the first Mexican driver to win a race since Pedro Rodriguez took victory in the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix.
Formula One leader Max Verstappen passed Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap to win a tense French Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday and canter 12 points clear at the top.
Six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton dominated the Styrian Grand Prix in a Mercedes one-two on Sunday to celebrate his 85th Formula One win and move a step closer to Michael Schumacher's record of 91 victories. Finnish Team mate Valtteri Bottas, winner of last weekend's season-opener behind closed doors at the same Austrian circuit, finished a distant runner-up with his championship lead cut to six points.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won Formula One's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday to end Mercedes' run of domination and become champion Lewis Hamilton's closest challenger.
The FIA said the stewards concluded after a telephone hearing that the brake bias system "used innovative solutions to exploit certain ambiguities" and did not breach the technical regulations.
The six times world champion took the chequered flag at Imola 5.783 seconds ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas, who started on pole position.
The writing has been on the wall for Sebastian Vettel since September 2018 when Ferrari announced Charles Leclerc as his Formula One team mate. The German, who will leave the Italian team at the end of a pandemic-hit 2020 season that has yet to start, was top dog at Maranello at the time but Leclerc was young, hungry and determined.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won a wet and crazily chaotic German Grand Prix littered with crashes and safety car periods on Sunday with Mercedes' Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton failing to score.
Mexican Sergio Perez was waiting for the go-ahead to race in Formula One's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix after ending quarantine for COVID-19 on Thursday.
Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez described his Force India team's financial situation as 'critical' on Thursday, and recognised that his own future remained uncertain.
IMAGES from the Silverstone F1 GP on Sunday
The pole was the 91st of Lewis Hamilton's career and seventh at Silverstone.
Hamilton is seven points clear of Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas after five of the 21 races.
'I could never have dreamed of being where I am today.'
Hamilton said he only realised the significance of what he had done when he came into the pitlane after taking the chequered flag.
Sebastian Vettel's Formula One title bid could suffer a further setback after a bizarre post-race incident at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Champions Mercedes are chasing a sixth successive double, and Lewis Hamilton his sixth drivers' title, but the task looks tougher than ever.
Images from the Tuscan F1 Grand Prix held at at Mugello, Scarperia e San Piero in Tuscany, Italy, on Sunday.
Hamilton wrapped up his record-equalling seventh title in Turkey last month and picked up his 11th win of the season in Bahrain on Sunday. Mercedes have already won the constructors' title for an unprecedented seventh year in a row.
Perez, who started eighth on the grid, finished ninth after being passed by Kevin Magnussen towards the end of the 56-lap race.
Force India did not say who the other driver would be, but that is assumed to be Canadian Lance Stroll whose billionaire father Lawrence heads a consortium that now controls the Silverstone-based outfit.
'The phenomenal Max Verstappen was both sloppy and superb in Germany, getting caught out during the first two starts, and even spinning his car around to give the crowd something to gasp at with a Batmobile-esque 360 degree turn. 'After Hamilton crashed and Verstappen sniffed victory, though, he pounced hard, put his foot down, and took a deserved race win,' says Rediff's F1 columnist Raja Sen.
Former Renault driver Robert Kubica suffered a life-changing crash in 2011 when a steel guardrail penetrated his car and arm in a minor rally in north-west Italy.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen went fastest in Styrian Grand Prix practice, on Friday, while Australian Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Renault
Racing Point have put the cash-starved Force India days behind them and now have the resources to show Formula One what they can really do, the Canadian-owned team said.
The report also revealed the parlous finances of the Vijay Mallya-owned team at the time they were taken into administration last July.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
Lewis Hamilton won in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and took championship lead.
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.
Vettel, 17 points behind Hamilton after a commanding win in Belgium last Sunday, has previously triumphed at Monza with Toro Rosso and Red Bull and will fancy his chances of the hat-trick at the super-fast track outside Milan.
The Scottish broadcaster said Murray was self-isolating and still had hopes of competing in the Australian Open next month.
Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas will partner Britain's triple world champion Lewis Hamilton at dominant Mercedes, winners of the last three drivers and constructors' titles and favourites again this year.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the French Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas alongside him on the front row.
Lewis Hamilton surpassed Ayrton Senna's career haul of 65 pole positions in Formula One as he edged Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas to secure top spot the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc held off Lewis Hamilton to win his first Formula One race on Sunday in the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances