World champion Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes in qualifying on Saturday for Formula One's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo kept calm and carried on to win a tense Monaco Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday after power unit problems threatened to wreck his hopes of victory in Formula One's showcase race.
Adrian Sutil appeared reluctant to forgive and forget on Wednesday after Lewis Hamilton had hoped for a thaw in their frozen friendship.
The Briton, a winner in 2009, clocked one minute 47.055 seconds in dry conditions to finish 0.365 seconds ahead of Mark Webber with the Australian's Red Bull team mate and runaway championship leader Sebastian Vettel third fastest in 1:47.885.
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.
'I watched Senna as a child and it would be an honour to match him. Now I'm just one win away but I hope to do even better'
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
Lewis Hamilton enjoyed an utterly dominant Italian Grand Prix victory on Sunday to take a 53-point lead in the Formula One championship after Mercedes team mate and closest rival Nico Rosberg retired with his engine in flames.
The Formula One drivers are rested and hopefully not rusted after a four-week break. The track - Spa-Francorchamps is all set to welcome the drivers.
Verstappen leads seven times world champion Hamilton by six points with six races remaining and the pole at Austin's Circuit of the Americas was the ninth of the season for the Dutch 24-year-old -- and eighth in the last 11 races.
Rafael Nadal is in contention for the 'World Sportsman of the Year' award alongside six-time Formula 1 World champion Lewis Hamilton, six-time World MotoGP champion Marc Mrquez and six-time FIFA World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi.
The Briton's latest victory, in a Tuscan Grand Prix that was twice red-flagged and re-started, left him one shy of the Ferrari great -- a record once held up as a milestone to withstand the test of time.
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.
Lewis Hamilton wanted to move to Red Bull and had advanced discussions with the champions before he agreed a deal to race for Mercedes this season, according to Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
Jenson Button has hit out at former teammate Lewis Hamilton's description of McLaren as a team where he felt suffocated on Thursday, admitting the drivers work hard but describing the freedom they enjoy as "phenomenal".
Britain's George Russell will stand in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for Sunday's Sakhir Grand Prix after being released by Williams.
British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, who has for the first time spoken about the decision to split from Nicole Scherzinger, has revealed that he's lost someone 'really special'.
Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday, with team mate and closest rival Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second place on the grid.
Australian Mark Webber seized pole position for the South Korean Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with title-chasing Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel having to settle for second place on the starting grid.
Germany's Nico Rosberg won a dramatic for Mercedes on Sunday after one of several explosive tyre failures scuppered team mate Lewis Hamilton's hopes of home victory.
Lewis Hamilton's Formula One rivals should beware the backlash because the four-times world champion's dip in form will not last long, his former Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg has warned.
Ferrari fans had mocked up a picture of Lewis Hamilton as a cry baby ahead of the Italian Grand Prix but the Mercedes driver was not the one shedding tears
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.
Lewis Hamilton has signed a three-year deal with the Mercedes Formula One team and will replace seven times World champion Michael Schumacher, Mercedes said on Friday.
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 best part is if you get on the podium with them two, in the room before we go out on the podium just after the race, you take the helmet off and it's awkward for me because it's just so silent'
The Mercedes driver's 55th career win was hard-fought and tense, however, with Ferrari's Vettel seizing the lead at the start and in the hunt all the way to the finish as the tyre strategies played out.
Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday to capture his first Formula One victory on North American soil and extend his overall lead to 36 points.
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.
Germany's Nico Rosberg scorched to his third successive Formula One pole position with team mate Lewis Hamilton completing a front row lockout for Mercedes at the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday.
Canadian Lance Stroll celebrated an astonishing first Formula One pole position for Racing Point in a crazy weather-hit Turkish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton crashed into the tyre wall but still stayed top of the timesheets after a rain-lashed Canadian Grand Prix practice on Friday.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso roared to victory in the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, making amends for crashing out of the previous race in Malaysia.
Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix on pole position in his farewell to McLaren, with teammate Jenson Button alongside.
Red Bull and Renault will be working flat out to ensure Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel does not go into next weekend's title showdown in Brazil with a 'ticking time bomb' deep inside his car.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton seized his first win for Mercedes in the Hungarian heat on Sunday while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel forged 38 points clear in the Formula One championship after finishing third.
Lewis Hamilton has turned his fire on Formula One rivals Red Bull for suggesting after a controversial Malaysian Grand Prix that he has joined Mercedes as their clear No 1.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won the European Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first repeat winner of the Formula One season after eight races.
Formula One World champion Sebastian Vettel led a Red Bull one-two when he won the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of team mate Mark Webber on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton may have had some regrets already about his decision to join Mercedes next season, according to his McLaren Formula One team principal Martin Whitmarsh.
