• Hamilton ends long wait for top-three finish with Ferrari

• Max Verstappen says new rules make F1 like ‘Mario Kart’

Lewis Hamilton said he is “back to his best” after he finished third at the Chinese Grand Prix to claim his first podium at Ferrari.

The 41-year-old Briton beat his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc after a thrilling duel and praised Formula One for delivering what he claimed was the best racing he had ever experienced.

• Barça thrash Sevilla to restore four-point lead in La Liga

• Isaksen damages Milan’s title hopes with first-half winner

Raphinha hit a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 5-2 to restore their four-point lead at the top of La Liga. After Real Madrid cut the gap by beating Elche on Saturday, the Spanish champions responded by romping to a comfortable victory.

Dani Olmo and João Cancelo also struck for Hansi Flick’s side, who host Newcastle in the Champions League on Wednesday. Fans streamed to the stadium to vote in the club’s presidential elections, with either Joan Laporta or Victor Font to be announced the new chief later on Sunday night.

• 19-year-old beats Mercedes teammate George Russell

• Chaos as McLarens of Norris and Piastri fail to start race

Teenage dreams so hard to beat, and what a moment when realised for Kimi Antonelli as he took his first Formula One victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.

There were tears from the 19-year-old who delivered on his enormous promise in Shanghai, but behind them no little steel as the Mercedes driver demonstrated he is in the world championship fight.

• Italian takes advantage of Mercedes teammate’s technical trouble

• Lewis Hamilton third in qualifying and sprint race for Ferrari

There was an inescapable sense of joy and satisfaction for Kimi Antonelli as he became the youngest pole sitter in Formula One history. Tellingly, there was an air of vindication from his Mercedes principal, Toto Wolff, as the teenage protege came good when it mattered by claiming the top spot for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Italian took pole by beating his older and more experienced teammate George Russell into second, albeit after the Briton endured a technical problem in Q3 and had time to set only one quick lap.

• F1 season expected to be reduced to 22 Grands Prix

• George Russell takes pole for China GP sprint race

Formula One is poised to cancel races scheduled for next month in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The sport has not yet formally confirmed the grands prix will be scrapped but it is expected to announce their cancellation as soon as this weekend before the meeting in Shanghai is over.

Mercedes steckt in der Krise, mehrfach musste Konzernchef Ola Källenius die Strategie für viel Geld umkrempeln. Trotzdem ist er im Unternehmen unangefochten. Wie macht der Mann das?

Mercedes’ flying start lives up to promise, but new regulations receive scathing reviews

The pre-season favourites had done their level best to play down their expected advantage in the buildup to the Australian Grand Prix, but it was impossible to hide. A dominant one-two by the best part of a second for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in qualifying was followed by a similarly assured one-two finish in the race.

• British driver fourth in Melbourne behind teammate Charles Leclerc

• Toto Wolff acknowledges Ferrari pose threat after Australian GP

Lewis Hamilton has declared he is fired-up and optimistic in his belief that Ferrari will be in the world championship fight with Mercedes after the new Formula One season opened in Australia on Sunday.

The race in Melbourne was won by Mercedes’ George Russell, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli in second but Ferrari claimed third and fourth for Charles Leclerc and Hamilton. Both drivers executed superb starts to make up places to first and third respectively and for the opening 12 laps were very much in the fight with Russell at the front of the field.

• World champion concerned about speed of overtaking

• Lewis Hamilton backs changes after Australian GP

Lando Norris has warned that Formula One is in danger of having a major accident that could injure fans as well as drivers after the season’s first race in Melbourne. The world champion was one of many drivers expressing discontent at the sport’s new direction over the weekend, but other senior figures in F1 have called for time to adapt to the new rules.

Norris finished fifth for McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix, which was won by the Mercedes driver George Russell. F1 has adopted complex regu­lations that require management of electrical energy. That includes the use of an overtake mode, allowing cars to apply extra power during a lap against rivals that may be slowing as they recharge their battery.

• Briton is one of three champions scathing of new regulations

• Overhaul had made the cars go from ‘best to worst’ in a season

Three world champions – Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris – have delivered a damning verdict on Formula One’s regulations overhaul after qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

Norris, McLaren’s defending champion, was scathing of the changes, saying that driving the car “sucks” and they were probably the “worst” ever made, while Hamilton criticised the new engine and chassis rules as “completely against” F1’s principles.

Rule changes will affect driver style and car performance with world champion Lando Norris already under scrutiny

With the long and increasingly febrile buildup almost at an end, Formula One is finally ready to go racing into the sport’s new era. Whether it will prove a success is one of many questions that will be answered at the season-opener in Melbourne this weekend, as will the most pressing concern: which team and driver enter this brave new world on top of the pile?

In the paddock at Albert Park this week, teams and drivers increasingly had an air of the stony-faced stare-down of a cold war summit amid caginess about their prospects. No one wanted to give anything away nor make predictions.

Seven-time world champion admits he ‘lost sight of who I was’ but has optimism as new campaign begins on Sunday

In the dying embers of the 2025 Formula One season there was a period when Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest drivers of all time, seemed cut from an almost unrecognisable cloth. The confidence, humour and calm assurance in his own abilities had been stripped away, replaced by an almost despairing bewilderment.

It was so alien to his usual character that many considered it a wonder that he was managing to drag himself on to see the year out. In the buildup to this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Hamilton was typically forthright in acknowledging it had been something of a psychological break.

• British former champion hits out at former colonial rulers

• ‘I’m hoping countries unite and take Africa back’

Lewis Hamilton has called for a movement to “take Africa back”, claiming the continent is being “controlled” by European powers. On the eve of the new Formula One season in Melbourne, the seven-time champion outlined his ambition to compete in a grand prix on African soil.

But the 41-year-old, F1’s first black race driver, did not stop there. He suggested former colonial rulers still exerted undue power in the region and called for action to reverse that influence. “I’ve got roots from a few different places there, like Togo and Benin,” he said. “I’m really proud of that part of the world.

McLaren could start slowly, Mercedes may set the pace, while newcomers – and returning heroes – add huge interest

Car MCL40 Engine Mercedes Principal Andrea Stella Debut Monaco 1966 GPs 994 Constructors’ titles 10 Last season 1st. Held their nerve to close out the constructors’ and drivers’ double last season, albeit with the latter going to the wire as they rather tied themselves in knots trying to be fair to both drivers. Enter this year a little off the front but in a season likely to be marked by a fierce development battle, will expect to exploit their huge strengths in bringing the car on with alacrity and be in the mix in no short order.

Push to give English same status as Māori and NZ sign languages triggers backlash from opposition parties and linguistic experts

A bill to recognise English as an official language of New Zealand has cleared its first hurdle in parliament amid ridicule from opposition parties and linguists who say it is “unnecessary” and “cynical”.

The bill seeks to give English, which is spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori (Māori language) and New Zealand sign language. The bill said the status and use of the existing official languages would not be affected.