Fernando Alonso felt lucky to be alive after emerging unscathed from a spectacular crash during last season's Australian Grand Prix but the twice Formula One world champion will give it no thought on his return to Albert Park this year.

Lewis Hamilton will look to put his stamp on the new Formula One season at this week's Australian Grand Prix, as he seeks to regain the world title following the shock retirement of reigning champion Nico Rosberg.

Formula One ventures into the unknown zone of a long-awaited revamped and high-speed era under new American ownership this weekend when the engines roar into life at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso ruled out retiring until he is handed a competitive car as his beleaguered McLaren-Honda suffered more reliability problems to end pre-season testing.

Williams ace Felipe Massa upstaged former world champions Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel on the first day of Formula One's second pre-season test in Barcelona on Tuesday.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen posted the fastest time on a track artificially soaked to test wet conditions as Lewis Hamilton's first week of testing fizzled to a premature end on Thursday.

Lewis Hamilton fired a warning to his title rivals on Monday pipping Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel on the opening day of pre-season testing in Barcelona in his "beast" of a Mercedes.

Nico Rosberg starts Sunday's season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with the Formula One world title he covets so keenly tantalisingly within his grasp.

Nine Australian men who provoked anger in Malaysia by donning skimpy swimwear bearing the Muslim country's national flag at a Formula 1 race are released without charge.

World championship leader Nico Rosberg strikes the first blow of the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend with the fastest lap in free practice on Friday, almost half-a-second quicker than Lewis Hamilton.

German retired racing driver and seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher is unable to stand even with the assistance of therapists, let alone walk claims his lawyer Felix Damm.

Nico Rosberg is going for a hat-trick of wins in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix that would catapult him back to the top of the world championship standings.

Formula One enters a new era as US billionaire John Malone's Liberty Media agrees a takeover that values the motorsport at $8 billion.

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton heads to this weekend's Italian Grand Prix knowing that a hat-trick of successive wins at Monza will put him in charge of the title race after one of the most rollercoaster seasons of his career.

Brazilian law enforcement agents storm a hideout near Sao Paulo on Sunday and free the kidnapped mother-in-law of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Nico Rosberg sets a scorching pace under pressure on Saturday to seize pole position, ahead of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton, in qualifying for his home German Formula One Grand Prix.

The mother-in-law of Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has been kidnapped in Sao Paulo and criminals are demanding 120 million reais ($36.5 million) in ransom, according to reports in a leading Brazilian news magazine.

Nico Rosberg has signed a new contract with Mercedes and will continue to partner triple world champion Lewis Hamilton for the next two years.

Lewis Hamilton faces a demanding and sweaty battle with his championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and a potentially-rampant Red Bull team as he seeks a decisive victory at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has urged fans to be more sporting after boos were heard for the second race in a row at Silverstone on Sunday.