FORMULA ONE: Lewis Hamilton Set For Contract Talk

World champion Lewis Hamilton says he knows his "worth" as he prepares for contract talks with Mercedes. The Englishman, who has a salary of $31m, plans to negotiate his own deal for the first time after severing ties with his management company last year.

Hamilton says he is a "rookie" in this area but told BBC Sport: "I am 30 now. I am my own man. I know my worth."

FORMULA 1: Rosberg Leads In Japan Opener

Rosberg, looking to bounce back from the disappointment of losing his F1 championship lead to Hamilton last time out in Singapore, was fastest by three tenths from Hamilton during the first half an hour of running on the extra set of hard Pirelli tyres made available to all drivers.

Hamilton got closer as both drivers went quicker during the second part of the session, but crucially locked up at the hairpin on his fastest lap and fell 0.151 seconds shy of denying Rosberg the top spot.
Fernando Alonso was best of the rest in third, just over half a second shy of Rosberg's benchmark.

FORMULA ONE: Nico Rosberg Disciplined After Appoloisin For Lewis Hamilton Clash

Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg has apologised for colliding with team mate Lewis Hamilton during Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix and has been disciplined, his Mercedes team said on Friday.
German Rosberg hit Hamilton on the second lap at Spa and the Briton later retired from the race with a damaged floor after picking up a puncture.

"Toto Wolff, Paddy Lowe, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton met today in the boardroom of Mercedes Amg Petronas headquarters in Brackley to discuss the events of the Belgian Grand Prix," the team said in a statement.

FORMULA 1: Lewis Hamilton Stays On Top In Second Practice

Mercedes continued to set the outright pace in Formula 1 as Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets at the end of the second practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton was 0.365 seconds faster than his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Held in warm, dry conditions - five degrees cooler than this afternoon's first practice - this was the first ever Formula 1 practice session in Bahrain to be held under floodlights.

Third quickest was Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari, significantly more than a second slower than Hamilton, pointing to the continued superiority of the Mercedes team.

FORMULA ONE: More Hype For Mercedes As lewis Hamilton Leads In Australia

The 2008 world champion could not finish a lap in the first session due to a sensor problem, but topped the timesheets in the second with a lap of one minute 29.625 seconds on a glorious sunny day at Albert Park.

Hamilton's quickest edged out team mate Nico Rosberg by 0.157 seconds as the pace of the two Mercedes' drivers carried on from their promising performances in winter testing.

"I was trying to feel the car. I missed obviously P1 which I felt like was a big back-step," Hamilton told reporters in the paddock.