4:54 AM ET Oh dear. Mercedes has displayed some pretty ominous pace all weekend in Melbourne but no-one was expecting such a comfortable pole position for Lewis Hamilton. Preseason suggested Ferrari would be in the mix but the Italian team has to go back to the drawing board ahead of tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix. Here’s

10:16 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — After smashing the Albert Park lap record by 0.6s and beating Ferrari by 0.7s, it was not immediately clear to Mercedes how it had managed to gain such a massive advantage on the eve of the first race of the season. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ surprising and ominous pace

8:44 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — After smashing the Albert Park lap record by 0.6s and beating Ferrari by 0.7s, it was not immediately clear to Mercedes how it had managed to gain such a massive advantage on the eve of the first race of the season. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ surprising and ominous pace

1:06 PM ET ESPN staff A new Formula One season is upon us, with this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix kicking off the 2019 campaign. At this stage, it’s hard to know anything for certain, but that’s never stopped people making wild predictions before. F1 editor Laurence Edmondson and deputy Nate Saunders have joined columnists Maurice

5:31 AM ET ESPN staff Charlie Whiting, the FIA’s director of Formula One and one of the most influential people in the sport, has died at the age of 66. The news comes just three days ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. The FIA, F1’s governing body, confirmed Whiting died on Thursday

8:32 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — Although the sight of two Mercedes at the top of the timesheets is a familiar one in Formula One, it doesn’t fit with the narrative that emerged from testing two weeks ago. According to all the data we saw in over eight days of running in Barcelona, Ferrari had

Charlie Whiting obituary: He was loved by all — in an ego-driven world like F1, that speaks volumes Following the death of F1 race director Charlie Whiting, Maurice Hamilton remembers a man who lived and breathed motor racing and was a constant voice of calm and reason in an often-explosive environment.

9:31 AM ET Eight days of winter testing is in the books. Ferrari appear the strongest, but Mercedes’ late gains in Barcelona means the season-opening Australian Grand Prix is wide open. What time does it start? How can I watch it? This weekend’s Australian Grand Prix is set to get underway at 4:10 p.m. local

8:00 AM ET Maurice Hamilton Close • Veteran F1 journalist, covering the sport since 1977• Motor racing correspondent for the Observer for 20 years• Has written several books and covered F1 for BBC Radio 5 Live The outpouring of grief from across the F1 divide says everything about the love and respect for Charlie Whiting. The shock of