Formula One champions Ferrari experienced their worst start to a season in 17 years when a risky gamble backfired at Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. The Italian team were left searching for answers after failing to score a single point in the opening race of the championship for the first time since the South African Grand Prix in 1992.
Kimi Raikkonen will be rallying in Finland and championship leader Jenson Button competing in a triathlon this weekend while their Formula One teams shut up shop for two weeks.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton boosted his Formula One title chances by taking pole position for Sunday's Japanese GP while Ferrari rival Felipe Massa could qualify only fifth. The Briton, who leads the standings by seven points from Massa with three races remaining, starts ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on the front row.
Toyota's Timo Glock stole some limelight from championship leader Lewis Hamilton on Friday with the quickest time in free practice at the Japanese Grand Prix. Hamilton, who takes a seven-point lead over rival Felipe Massa into the weekend with three races left, was third fastest overall for McLaren, behind Renault's Fernando Alonso. Massa was fourth on the timesheets with Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen fifth over the picturesque 4.563km Fuji Speedway circuit.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton lit up free practice for the Singapore Grand Prix Friday, as Formula One's inaugural night race officially got under way. With drivers getting their first full-speed look at the city-state's street circuit, Hamilton outpaced the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen to clock the fastest lap of the day in the first practice session.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton promised on Thursday to stay "squeaky clean" for the rest of the Formula One season after being stripped of victory in Belgium last weekend.
The 23-year-old Briton will start Sunday's race with Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa, his main title rival, alongside on the front row.
A year on from what remains the greatest and cruellest day of his Formula One career, Force India's Adrian Sutil is still haunted by Monaco Grand Prix memories.
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on pole position for their home Italian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday in a qualifying session that ended in farce and with drivers under investigation.
Sebastian Vettel cruised to a third straight Singapore Grand Prix victory on Sunday and moved closer to a fourth consecutive Formula One world title with a dominant drive under the floodlights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The sport's oldest and most successful team are hoping the car, with more red and less white in the livery following the departure of sponsor Santander, will take them to a first championship in a decade.
World championship leader Lewis Hamilton took pole position for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix after pipping BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica with the last lap of qualifying on Saturday.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton gave his Formula One title hopes a huge boost when he took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday with his main rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari qualifying third.
Poland's Robert Kubica believes he can still pull off a miraculous turnaround and win this year's Formula One world title for BMW-Sauber.
Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella will start his 200th Formula One race, Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, in last place. The Italian, who had already collected a five-place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, was the slowest qualifier on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton won in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and took championship lead.
Lewis Hamilton told a F1 appeal court that he had gained no advantage from a chicane-cutting controversy that cost him victory in this month's Belgian Grand Prix.
Force India, without a point in their debut Formula One season, achieved a modest but noteworthy first on Saturday when they reached the second phase of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella will start his home race from 12th on the grid on Sunday after mastering the wet qualifying conditions better than world champion Kimi Raikkonen and championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who were 14th and 15th respectively.
Bringing Fernando Alonso to Ferrari to partner world champion Kimi Raikkonen would not be desirable, team president Luca di Montezemolo said on Tuesday. "To line up a Raikkonen-Alonso double act would mean wanting to damage yourself. I want two equal drivers that work together," the president said.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of victory in a thrilling Belgian Grand Prix after stewards decided he had gained an advantage by cutting a chicane during a last-gasp duel with Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari's on-form Felipe Massa set the pace in Belgian Grand Prix free practice on Friday while world champion team mate Kimi Raikkonen again looked out of sorts.
Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said on Wednesday he is confident his team would bounce back in Malaysia this weekend after making a terrible start to the season at the Australian Grand Prix. Neither of the Italian team's drivers completed last weekend's Grand Prix, although world champion Kimi Raikkonen picked up a point after Honda's Rubens Barrichello was disqualified from a race that only seven cars completed. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won.
Brazilian Grand Prix stewards cleared BMW's Sauber's Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld and Williams' Nico Rosberg of alleged fuel irregularities.
Valtteri Bottas seized his first pole position of the Formula One season in Austria on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second.
Formula One's governing body has banned teams from sending drivers coded messages under a controversial clampdown on the use of radio communications from this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday after World champion Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari suffered an early breakdown. The 23-year-old pipped Poland's Robert Kubica to line up a perfect start to his second season in Formula One. Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, in the second McLaren, qualified in third place with Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa alongside on the second row.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa was quickest on Thursday's final day of Formula One testing for next week's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim while Giancarlo Fisichella crashed heavily in his Force India. The Brazilian, level on 48 points with world champion team mate Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton at the halfway point in the season, was the only driver to lap inside one minute 15 seconds with a best time of 1:14.989.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his 50th Formula One victory on Sunday with a pole-to-flag U.S. Grand Prix drive that kept his title hopes alive and trimmed Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg's lead to 26 points with three races remaining. Rosberg, who had been chasing his 10th triumph of the season, finished second on a sunny Texan afternoon with a big crowd but little drama -- even if Hamilton spent much of it worrying about reliability. The straightforward victory was Hamilton's fourth in Texas in five seasons and ended a barren stretch for the triple world champion dating back to his last win in Germany in July.
Sebastian Vettel trimmed Lewis Hamilton's Formula One lead to 17 points with eight races remaining.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday but the battle for the Formula One title will go on to the season finale in Brazil.
Ferrari's world champion and Formula One leader Kimi Raikkonen took his first pole position of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Force India began the European leg of the Formula One season on a promising note as both its drivers notched up top 10 finishes in the second practice session ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Fisichella was 17th on the timesheet in the first practice session while Sutil was 16th. In the afternoon, both bettered their timing, Fisichella finishing ninth, just ahead of his younger German teammate. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in both sessions.
Fernando Alonso is almost certain to rejoin Renault next season, team boss Flavio Briatore said.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa needs to repeat last year's dominant victory in Bahrain on Sunday to silence his critics after a poor start to the Formula One season. While McLaren's Lewis Hamilton leads the standings with 14 points, three clear of Ferrari's World champion Kimi Raikkonen and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, Brazilian Massa is yet to score.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo praised McLaren driver Fernando Alonso after he lost his world title by just one point to the Italian team's Kimi Raikkonen.
The seven-times Formula One world champion is glad to be watching this year's gripping conclusion at home on television.
The Italian driver broke into the top 10 in practice for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Fisichella, 35, lapped ninth fastest in Friday's afternoon practice session at Albert Park after ending the morning with the 12th best time. German team mate Adrian Sutil was 17th.
Finnish team mate Heikki Kovalainen second quickest on the second day of Formula One's final pre-season test.
Nico Rosberg won a dramatic Australian Grand Prix on Sunday after a bungled tyre strategy dashed Sebastian Vettel's chances of a season-opening triumph and Fernando Alonso survived a spectacular crash that left his McLaren wrecked.
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