Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton laid down the gauntlet to team-mate Nico Rosberg on Saturday, as he qualified in pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Hamilton was in a class of his own on the day and was comfortably clear of his rival, who will start in second place; the reigning world champion's final time of one minute, 32.850 seconds was 0.414 seconds quicker than what the German could muster.  Rosberg arrived in Malaysia on the back of three successive wins and with an eight-point advantage in the Formula One world championship. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start behind him on the grid after snaffling third position. Earlier in the day, Hamilton topped final practice, with Verstappen splitting him and Rosberg. Here's ...

Lewis Hamilton will be desperate to turn his recent form around when the Formula 1 circus descends on the Sepang International Circuit for the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix. Mercedes team-mate and main title competitor Nico Rosberg has won three consecutive races since the summer break and taken the lead in the standings, while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel is already Formula 1's all-time record holder in Malaysia with four wins and is once again a top contender for another victory. Rosberg has never won at Sepang International, and Hamilton only has a single win in Malaysia under his belt, but the Silver Arrows have won 14 of this year's 15 races so far and are expected to dominate once again. Here's everything you need to know about this weekend...

Just one final race remains in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup's Round of 16, and it will come in the form of the Monster Mile when Dover International Speedway hosts the Citizen Soldier 400 on Sunday.  Friday's qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather, so NASCAR set the field based on owner points: With one race left before the Chase field is reduced to 12 drivers, only two have clinched their spots in the next round. Martin Truex Jr. won the opening Chase race at Chicagoland, and Kevin Harvick followed it up with a win at New Hampshire.   The other 14 drivers are not safe for a spot in the Round of 12, and a start placing them all together at the front of the pack will make for an entertaining start Sunday.  On...

Jenson Button will celebrate his 300th Formula One race start in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. The Sepang race is set to be the latest phase of the 2009 world champion's unofficial farewell tour, with Button already deciding to take a sabbatical in 2017 with a view to returning to the grid with McLaren-Honda in 2018. The British driver, one of the most popular in the modern era, will become only the third driver to reach the 300-race milestone along with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello, who spent four seasons as Button's team-mate between 2006 and '09. Here, we mark Button's triple-hundred by ranking the five most memorable moments of his 17-year F1 career.Begin Slideshow...

Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton topped a practice session each on Friday ahead of the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix.   Rosberg, who leads the championship from his team-mate by eight points after three successive wins, was fastest early in the day at Sepang, although Hamilton rediscovered his form in the second practice stint. There was also a bizarre incident involving Renault’s Kevin Magnussen in first practice, as his car continually caught fire in the pit lane. The session was red-flagged as a result, although the driver was able to resume later in the day. Here’s a snap of the incident posted by the man himself on social media: Here’s a look back at the day’s action, as the drivers prep...

Liberty Media's proposed takeover of Formula One has opened up a whole host of new possibilities for a sport widely criticised for being left behind in a rapidly changing world. Talk of a digital revolution, more grands prix—including multiple races in the United States—and a generally bigger and better F1 has dominated the headlines since Liberty's arrival on the scene ahead of the recent Singapore Grand Prix. Leading motorsport business figure Zak Brown is likely to feature in the team of people tasked with guiding F1 into the future. The American has already outlined his vision for how the sport could move forward over the coming years. One man who needs to create a plan of action for the next few years is Carlos Sainz Jr., w...

This, my friends, is what it’s all about: Chase for the Sprint Cup elimination races. The buzzword of the week will be, no doubt, pressure. Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Chris Buescher and Austin Dillon sit below the line. Three of those drivers still have a chance at making it to the Round of 12 on points. One must win, and, frankly, he’s incapable of that at this point. Drivers above the cut line aren’t guaranteed of certain advancement, either. The Monster Mile at Dover International Speedway acts like a garbage disposal at times. In the spring, we saw a monster wreck that was on par with anything Talladega or Daytona can throw at the circuit. Only Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. are safe. The other 14 still have wor...

Following an exciting race in Singapore, the Formula One circus reconvenes south of Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Grand Prix. On the back of a three-race winning streak, Nico Rosberg leads the drivers' championship again—for the first time since the end of the British Grand Prix back in July. Last year, with the Malaysian Grand Prix coming in its traditional place at the beginning of the calendar, Sebastian Vettel pulled off a shocking win for Ferrari—the Scuderia's first in the hybrid V6 engine era. Ferrari are still looking for their first win of 2016, but Red Bull have looked stronger in recent races, with Daniel Ricciardo nearly catching Rosberg at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix. Vettel is also the most successful driv...

The 16th round of the 2016 Formula One season will take place at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit, where Mercedes can claim a third consecutive constructors' world championship. The Silver Arrows have enjoyed their strongest season yet in 2016, with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton winning all but one race between them. As reported by ESPN F1's Laurence Edmondson, Mercedes' 222-point lead ahead of the final six races means the team only need to finish within seven and 22 points of Red Bull and Ferrari, respectively, to retain the title. With their title sponsor based in Kuala Lumpur, Mercedes would love nothing more than to cap their period of dominance by winning Petronas' home race in an event sponsor...

This is the third season of NASCAR's current Chase format, and Kevin Harvick has mastered it. Since the quest for the Sprint Cup championship became divided into rounds, Harvick has never missed one. In 2014, he won the Chase. In 2015, he finished second. Quick! Guess who won the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway? It's not a trick question; Kevin Harvick knows all the tricks. Harvick, 40, fares demonstrably better in the season's final 10 races—i.e., the Chase for the Sprint Cup—than in the first 26. "You've got to be prepared...because you never know what is going to happen," Harvick said after his 34th career victory, "but I think everybody on this team knows that when we get to Chase time, it's time to put...