McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took his first Formula One victory on Sunday, keeping his cool in a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix to take the outright lead in the championship.
Red Bull's Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen took the chequered flag in second place with Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium for Ferrari and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth for Red Bull.
BMW Sauber have ruled out using test driver Sebastian Vettel for Friday practice at grand prix weekends for the time being as they challenge McLaren and Ferrari.
The Canadian driver will lose 10 places on the Australian GP after his team confirmed engine change for Saturday qualifying.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Lewis Hamilton turned in a blistering drive in his McLaren to top the timesheets in final practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has said the 'door at Maranello will always be open' for Michael Schumacher's son Mick should the German prospect follow in his father's footsteps and progress to Formula One.
The Finn pipped the seven times champion by just 0.002 seconds.
Robert Kubica will become the first Pole to start a Formula One race when he replaces Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso fired off a warning to his rivals on Friday by lapping quickest in the French GP free practice.
Lewis Hamilton took a big step towards a second Formula One World championship on Sunday with his 10th win of the season in a US Grand Prix that saw Mercedes equal the record for one-two finishes. The Briton stretched his lead over team mate Nico Rosberg to 24 points with two races and 75 points remaining, a gap that guarantees the title chase will go down to the final round in Abu Dhabi whatever happens in Brazil.
Renault, Honda, Toyota, McLaren-Mercedes and BMW-Sauber will not be guaranteed one of the 12 team slots if they failed to sign up in time.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
The Jordan driver clocked 1 minute and 36.707 seconds to qualify 15th for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Williams have appointed experienced German racer Adrian Sutil as reserve driver for the season, the Formula One team said on Thursday.
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.
Mark Webber seized pole position for the floodlit Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday with Red Bull team-mate and quadruple World Champion Sebastian Vettel making a rare error and having to settle for second best.
The Formula One team hopes the heavily revised car will allow them to challenge Red Bull and Sauber.
Ferrari's new team principal Mattia Binotto said earlier in the year that Vettel, as the team's "champion", would be given priority over Leclerc in certain racing situations, though he later clarified the drivers would be "free to fight".
The Formula One season starts in Australia on March 17 with new regulations, changed lineups, a trio of young rookies fresh from Formula Two and the comeback of Poland's Robert Kubica.
Lewis Hamilton's world championship defence got off to a flying start on Sunday with a crushing victory for Mercedes in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as Formula One rivals succumbed to a farcical rash of reliability problems.
Formula One starts a new season in Australia on March 15 with a number of changes to the rules and regulations, as well as new faces in the paddock. Check out what's different for 2015.
Lewis Hamilton won in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and took championship lead.
The two drivers are vying for a place alongside Australian Mark Webber at BMW-Williams for next season.
Sergio Perez expects to have his Formula One future decided before next month's Malaysian Grand Prix and said on Thursday that he is currently weighing up two options.
Germany's Nick Heidfeld was second fastest as he did his best to impress Williams in a wet and windy Formula One test session.
In a thrilling race with two safety car periods, reigning champion Hamilton went from pole position to the rear of the field before finishing second for Mercedes in a superb fightback. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third.
Ferrari could lead other Formula One teams into an alternative championship if the sport becomes too much like the US-based NASCAR series.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday.
"We have been offered deals that are absolutely fine with what we wanted," said the Sauber driver's manager.
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.
Michael Schumacher's son Mick has followed in his father's footsteps by signing a contract with Ferrari to join the Formula One team's young driver academy. The 19-year-old German, whose father won five of his record seven championships with the Italian team, will be competing in Formula Two this year after winning the European F3 title in 2018.
