World champion Sebastian Vettel put his rivals firmly in their place by dominating both practice sessions on the opening day of the Formula One season at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.
Formula One has had to modify its qualifying format after financial problems ruled the Caterham and Marussia teams out of Sunday's US Grand Prix while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel is set to be sidelined by an engine penalty.
The German becomes the fourth quadruple champion and only the third driver to land four titles in a row after Germany's seven-times winner Michael Schumacher and the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.
The next time the four-time world champion will get behind the wheel will be for first Friday practice at Melbourne's Albert Park on March 23.
World champion Sebastian Vettel won the Korean Grand Prix in a Red Bull one-two finish on Sunday to take the overall Formula One lead from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with four races remaining.
Four-time Formula One champion and Red Bull racer Sebastian Vettel has warned his team that they might be facing a debacle unless they improve their car before the season opens at the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the European Grand Prix on Sunday while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton doubled his championship lead by finishing runner-up for the third year in a row.
Red Bull expect Sebastian Vettel to help team-mate Mark Webber win the Formula One world championship should the situation arise but will not be ordering him to do so.
Raja Sen sums up the action in Friday's second practice session of the Indian Formula One GP
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.
Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel won the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first Formula One driver to take eight consecutive victories in a single season.
Red Bull's four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to chalk up his seventh successive victory and equal the longest winning streak in the modern era of Formula One.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday but was made to wait for his fourth successive Formula One title after Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished fourth.
Ferrari made a strong start to the first day of Formula One testing, on Monday, with four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel top of the timesheets at lunchtime with 72 laps completed.
Red Bull's quadruple World champion Sebastian Vettel seized pole position on Saturday for a US Grand Prix that could see him celebrate a record eighth successive win of the Formula One season.
The German, who will start on pole for the third year in a row in Valencia, will have McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton alongside on the front row.
World champion Sebastian Vettel was perfectly placed to become the first repeat winner of the Formula One season after putting his Red Bull on pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday for the second year in a row.
Sebastian Vettel led a Red Bull one-two in Friday's first free practice for an Indian Grand Prix that looks sure to secure the German a fourth successive Formula One title.
Launching a scathing attack over his fellow drivers for not presenting a united front on the introduction of Halo device, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has favoured the launch of head protection device for the 2017 Formula One season saying nothing could 'justify death'.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel roared into the record books as Formula One's youngest double world champion on Sunday after finishing third in a Japanese Grand Prix won by McLaren rival Jenson Button.
Nothing Sebastian Vettel experiences on the track this weekend can match what the world champion has witnessed on India's roads.
German Sebastian Vettel gave Red Bull their first Formula One win with a pole to chequered flag victory ahead of team mate Mark Webber in the rain-soaked Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Pirelli have ruled out a structural failure of their tyre as the cause of Sebastian Vettel's sudden puncture at last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel won the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday to secure Red Bull's second successive Formula One constructors' championship.
Lewis Hamilton boosted his morale with the fastest lap in Russian Grand Prix practice on Friday after Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg set the early pace and Ferrari suffered reliability problems.
James Hunt would doubtless have done it differently but Sebastian Vettel's idea of bliss after winning the Formula One championship for the fourth year in a row was a few quiet days at home.
The Formula One title battle is turning into a straight duel between Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel for the honour of becoming the youngest triple world champion.
Double Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel suffered his first retirement in more than a year on Sunday after a sudden tyre blowout at the first corner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Double world champion and winner of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was full of praise for the newly-built Buddh International Circuit and lauded the organisers for coming up with the spanking track in such a short time.
Germany's Sebastian Vettel will replace retiring David Coulthard at Red Bull Formula One team next year.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the Italian Grand Prix at a canter on Sunday to move 53 points clear of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in the Formula One championship after six victories from 12 races.
Sebastian Vettel drove a superb race to win the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Mark Webber as Red Bull enjoyed a one-two at Spa-Francorchamps.
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.
Mark Webber charged Red Bull with emotionally favouring Formula One team mate and title rival Sebastian Vettel on Thursday and said his own championship challenge had been "inconvenient".
Images from the Japanese GP on Sunday.
New Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel will drive his Red Bull on a lap of honour through central Berlin on Saturday in front of tens of thousands of German fans, his team said.
Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel chalked up his seventh pole position in eight races this season on Saturday as Red Bull swept the front row in qualifying for the European Grand Prix.
Red Bull's 23-year-old German Sebastian Vettel also finally got his hands on the championship winner's trophy at the same International Automobile Federation (FIA) awards ceremony in Monaco on Friday night.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Vettel's closest title rival with a 46 point gap to make up, qualified fifth and behind Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa.
World champion Sebastian Vettel will start the Formula One season-opener from pole position on an all-Red Bull front row later on Sunday after posting the fastest time in the rain-delayed qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.