The Thai's victory over his Ferrari rival gave Red Bull something to celebrate on a day that should have seen the return of Max Verstappen's home Dutch Grand Prix after a 35-year absence.
Images from the Russian F1 Grand Prix in Sochi on Sunday
Lewis Hamilton, who won from pole position to take the championship lead after three races, again took a knee while wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt, but some drivers were either too late or remained standing.
The McLarens of Britons Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest times as Formula One got back to business with the first two practice sessions for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday.
This year marks the first that two quadruple champions are competing in the same season and their battle to see who joins Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio in second place on the all-time list with five titles promises to light up the series.
The Formula One world champion said it has taken him 32 years to understand the impact he was having.
Carlos Sainz will start Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after penalties reshuffled the grid
Lewis Hamilton survived another first corner clash with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg on Sunday to take a fifth Canadian Grand Prix victory and cut the German's championship lead to nine points.
Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Belgian Formula One Grand Prix from near the back of the grid as the world championship leader takes a hefty grid penalty for exceeding his allowed allocation of engine components.
Ferrari's last win before Sunday was with Sebastian Vettel in Singapore in September 2019.
Verstappen suffered two retirements from the first three races but has otherwise finished all but two rounds in the top three.
World Champion Lewis Hamilton has poked fun at Sebastian Vettel's remarks that Mercedes' recent dominance has made F1 'less exciting', saying that the German's run of four years in Red Bull was more boring than his two years supremacy.
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has fueled speculation that he is in a romantic relationship with pop star Rihanna.
The 35-year-old recently took part in a 'Black Lives Matter' march in London but said he was supporting racial equality rather than taking any political stance.
Starting second behind pole-sitter Hamilton, Bottas got the jump on the Briton during a typically messy start at Albert Park and ended up cruising to his fourth win by some 20.80 seconds after delaying a tyre-change.
Verstappen goes into the Formula One record books as the pole setter for the weekend, however, regardless of where he starts on Sunday.
The Briton's Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas will line up alongside on the front row of the starting grid with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel behind them.
Mercedes's brilliant pitstop strategy spoiled the game for Max Verstappen in Hungarian Grand Prix, says Rediff's F1 columnist Raja Sen.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the penultimate race on this year's Formula One calendar
Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix in a Red Bull one-two on Sunday
Lewis Hamilton addressed his insecurities on Thursday -- and not having a good enough six-pack was one of them -- without giving away any ammunition to Sebastian Vettel in their Formula One title battle.
Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg has apologised for colliding with team mate Lewis Hamilton during Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix and has been disciplined, his Mercedes team said on Friday.
Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix with Alpine's Fernando Alonso leaping onto the front row alongside the Formula One championship leader in a wet qualifying on Saturday.
Hamilton has already won the title, his record-equalling seventh, but the Briton is isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.
Michael Schumacher, who has not been seen in public since he suffered serious head injuries in a ski accident in 2013, beat former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone with 61 per cent of the vote in a head-to-head final.
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.
Charles Leclerc took pole position for Ferrari in crash-laden qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, pipping Red Bull's World champion Max Verstappen on the upgraded Albert Park circuit.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to take 100 pole positions after lapping fastest for Mercedes in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton says he is trying to go vegan out of concern for the planet, love of animals and his own health.
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.
The German driver seized the lead at the start from team-mate Charles Leclerc on Sunday but was soon reeled in by the 21-year-old from Monaco, who passed Vettel on the sixth lap in only his second race for Ferrari.
Sport and society remain stuck in the 'stone age' when it comes to women's rights, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday.
Stewards said in a statement that the Briton had escaped a more severe sanction "due to the fact that no clear instruction was given to the driver on where he should park the car after qualifying".
The pole was a record-extending 88th of Hamilton's career and fifth of the season.
'It is going to be a lifelong thing for me.'
Max Verstappen fought back from a slow pitstop to win the US Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday as his Red Bull team clinched the Formula One constructors' title a day after the death of billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
McLaren's Australian Daniel Ricciardo will join the Dutch 23-year-old on the front row for the first time since the pair were team mates at Red Bull in 2018.
'I'm excited to get back in, I really do miss it. This has been almost a blessing on one side because it gives you more appreciation for the things that you love and do.'
Charles Leclerc seized pole position for the Italian Formula One Grand Prix and sent Ferrari hopes soaring on Saturday while Mercedes' George Russell joined him on the front row once penalties were applied.
Hamilton, who said he had supported Arsenal since he was five, admired Wenger's commitment to the North London club over more than two decades.
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