JONATHAN McEVOY AT YAS MARINA: Lewis Hamilton signed off from qualifying in style - ending his nine-race pole drought - by setting the pace ahead of Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton on Saturday night fluttered his eyelashes at Ferrari, as the wooing and cooing over his future hotted up in the desert.

Hamilton's £40million-a-year deal with Mercedes expires at the end of next year, and Ferrari chief executive Louis Camilleri has confirmed that preliminary discussions have taken place.

Charles Leclerc has signed a five-year contract to remain with Ferrari following a successful maiden campaign with Ferrari, rewarding the Frenchman with a new and improved deal.

COMMENT BY JONATHAN MCEVOY: I wonder whether F1 - and the other sports being lured there - might not play a constructive role in helping the kingdom towards improvement.

Formula One bosses have been accused of getting into bed with the Saudis who 'stole' their own TV rights deal.

W Series, the all-female racing championship, has broken into the Formula One family 15 years after Bernie Ecclestone said that 'women should wear white like all other domestic appliances'.

Lewis Hamilton's future with Mercedes is under increasing threat and the British driver could join Ferrari in 2021. He has one more season with the Silver Arrows on his £40million-a-year deal.

The six-time world champion's clarification follows Italian media reports claiming negotiations with team boss Toto Wolff have broken down over his annual pay demands.

Mercedes driver Hamilton claimed his sixth world championship last season and is now eyeing Schumacher's record with the Brit approaching the new campaign as the strong favourite.

Formula One star Lando Norris isn't going to follow Lewis Hamilton to Monaco - because he can't afford it. Norris, 20, would rather stay in Surrey than move to the playground of the grid's high-rollers.

Lewis Hamilton has unveiled the new Mercedes he hopes will fire him to a record-equalling seventh Formula One world championship.

The Grove outfit endured a turbulent 2019 in which they failed to make the start of pre-season testing before finishing last in the constructors' championship with just one point.

Sebastian Vettel has fallen ill on the opening day of Formula One testing after posing for group pictures on the starting grid with the other drivers. The four-time champion was due to test Ferrari's new SF1000.

The British Formula One driver, who shared the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award with Lionel Messi on Monday, has been linked with a switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.

Mercedes' reinvention of the steering wheel has been banned just a day after it broke cover. Not that Lewis Hamilton and his boffins will mind because it won't be outlawed until 2021.

JONATHAN SPENCER IN SALZBURG: When we rocked up to the iconic Hangar-7 in a Red Bull themed double-decker party bus, we knew we were in for one special night.

INTERVIEW BY NATHAN SALT: Jenson Button has warned Charles Leclerc that his honeymoon at Ferrari is over and he must now put up a fight with Lewis Hamilton for the title.

The Chinese Grand Prix, which was scheduled for April, has already been cancelled amid growing fears about the virus but F1 chief Chase Carey has announced it is 'all systems go' for Melbourne.

It has been reported that Hamilton could pocket around £60million from a new deal with Mercedes but he and Wolff both claimed that they have not yet spoken about figures.

Lewis Hamilton has said he needs to figure out his next 'five to 10-year plan' before signing a new contract with Mercedes. Hamilton joined Mercedes from McLaren back in 2013.

Formula One's most prominent woman, Claire Williams, has criticised the sport's 'disgraceful 19th Century' accusation that her becoming a mother has caused her team's decline.

Red Bull's No 1 driver Max Verstappen, who is expected to seriously test Lewis Hamilton's dominance going forward, starred heavily during the documentary that premiered last month.

The seven teams, which includes Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren, are concerned that that FIA's probe does not identify whether Ferrari bent the rules.

Italy is currently on on lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus, with the country's prime minister Giuseppe Conte ordering 60 million citizens not to travel or even socialise in coming days.

EXCLUSIVE BY JONATHAN MCEVOY IN MELBOURNE: Todt has told Formula One's teams he took the decision to strike a settlement with his old team over their allegedly illegal engine.

Pre-season testing has left us with more questions than answers as the new F1 campaign prepares to get underway at the Australian GP. Here are the 10 biggest talking points for the new season.

Silverstone bosses have promised fans a full refund if the British Grand Prix on July 19 is called off. The first seven races of the F1 season have been cancelled over coronavirus pandemic.

Max Verstappen admitted he is focused on winning the Formula One Championship this year with Red Bull and believes he now has the experience to do so. 

Daniel Ricciardo reveals he is still benefitting from a good training regime despite coronavirus disrupting plans for the 2020 Formula One calendar. 

McLaren now have all their employees home from Australia after a period in quarantine following a positive test at the cancelled season-opener in Melbourne.

The boss of the British Grand Prix has told Formula One's owners that he needs to know by the middle of next month whether the showpiece event is going ahead on July 19.

EXCLUSIVE: Bernie Ecclestone is locked down at his coffee farm in Brazil. At 490 acres it is literally the size of Monaco, and, with coronavirus lurking, staff living on site go out a couple at a time to shop.

Formula One and Silverstone admit they have until the end of April before they find out if the British Grand Prix could be held this year.

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has warned that a number of Formula One teams could fold if a crisis meeting on Thursday does not endorse money-saving plans.

Sebastian Vettel is feeling the lockdown strain as yet another would-be Formula One race weekend breezes by with drivers still holed up at home. Vettel should be in Shanghai for round-four of the season.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has bought a stake worth about £37million in Aston Martin, the British sports car company that will return to the Formula One grid as a works team next year.

Last year teams agreed to a budget cap of 175million US dollars (£142million) for 2021 but there have been suggestions that could be cut further.

McLaren boss Zak Brown has claimed Formula One can live without Ferrari if they refuse to go along with a lower budget cap.

The French Grand Prix became the 10th race to be postponed or cancelled this season with the pandemic decimating the sporting calendar worldwide.

The Hungarian government has said that no event in front of more than 500 people can take place before August 15, with the Grand Prix at the Hungaroring scheduled for August 2.

The coronavirus pandemic has put Formula One's plans to start the season on hold but they races in Austria in early July before potentially two more at Silverstone are being lined up.

F1 chief Chase Carey revealed on Thursday that conversations are also being held with promoters 'currently not on the 2020 calendar'. Hockenheim, in Germany's Rhine valley, is first on that list.

Formula One boss Ross Brawn has spoken to the directors of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) in an attempt to win their approval for a return to racing in Austria on July 5.

The Covid-19 pandemic means that the 2020 season has yet to get under way, but the current plan is to begin racing behind closed doors in Austria on July 5.

The six-time Formula One world champion says the British Grand Prix won't be the same without spectators but he is still raring to go after months of waiting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The fiery reality TV personality, 39, is among a host of contenders for the fifth season of Donald Trump's TV show.

To right hand woman and daughter Ivanka, 30 , Trump is obviously just a teddy bear, as today, she was spotted gently brushing flecks from her father's overcoat before cameras rolled in Manhattan.

She's never had any trouble spending cash, but Teresa Guidice is hoping to prove she has earning power too on the new series of Celebrity Apprentice. The 39-year-old Real Housewives of New Jersey star, who first filed for bankruptcy with her husband Joe Giudice in 2009, joined the new line of up of contestants in New York today.

She found fame on reality show Making The Band emerging as the show’s breakout star before landing her own reality TV show. But Aubrey O’Day is facing her biggest television challenge yet - battling it out against 17 other familiar faces on Celebrity Apprentice.