Lewis Hamilton has ended speculation over his Formula One future after signing a new two-year contract with Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion, bidding for a record eighth crown in 2021, is now tied to the German team through the 2023 season, covering the first two campaigns of new regulations which come into force next year.
The 36-year-old has won six of his previous seven drivers' titles with Mercedes, who he joined from McLaren in 2012.
Hamilton only signed a one-year deal for 2021 in February and both he and team boss Toto Wolff had stressed agreeing an earlier deal this time around was a priority.
The Briton is embroiled in a thrilling title scrap with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who has opened up an 18-point lead in the championship going into the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.
It is still unclear who Hamilton's team-mate will be for 2022 and beyond.
Valtteri Bottas is languishing fifth in the championship, while George Russell – now with Williams – impressed when he stood in during Hamilton's coronavirus absence at last season's Sakhir Grand Prix.
Russell reacted to the news by calling it "great for Mercedes and F1".
After his new deal was confirmed, Stats Perform looked at the data to summarise Hamilton's incredible F1 impact.
LEVEL WITH SCHUMACHER
Michael Schumacher won his seventh and final championship in 2004, a streak of five in a row at Ferrari that saw him surpass Juan Manuel Fangio's previous overall record of five career titles.
All but one of Hamilton's triumphs have come with Mercedes, following a dramatic initial 2008 success at McLaren.
That means he has now gone past Schumacher as the driver to have won the most F1 titles with the same team. The German's back-to-back 1994 and 1995 successes came at Benetton.
The only championship not claimed by Hamilton during his current run, 2016, was picked up by his then Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton has won four in a row, meaning matching another Schumacher best for successive crowns while also claiming the outright record of eight are his targets this season.
WINNING RECORD
In 2020 Hamilton equalled his best single-season return of 11 wins, which he also recorded in each of 2014, 2018 and 2019.
Hamilton is an all-time F1 leader in terms of career race wins (98), poles (100), podiums (171) and points (3,916), having overtaken Schumacher to take top spot in all but the latter category.
Of those race victories, 77 have come with Mercedes, the most any driver has achieved with a single team.
He has led the most races (168) and laps (5,221) in F1 history, while he had finished a record 48 consecutive grands prix in the points until COVID-19 forced him to miss the penultimate race of 2020.
However, as he signs his deal at a time when rival Verstappen is thriving, the Briton is only one GP away from equalling his worst run (five races) without winning in a single season since 2014.
He also had two five-race runs without a win in 2016, the year Rosberg triumphed and the only campaign Hamilton did not win the title in the hybrid era.
Interestingly, Hamilton did set a record in that season as runner-up. He won 10 races and racked up 380 points, both the most ever by a driver who did not go on to win the world title.
DOMINANCE SPANNING DECADES
When he won his first championship in 2008, Hamilton was F1's youngest world title winner at 23 years, nine months and 26 days old. Sebastian Vettel later surpassed that feat in 2010 at 23, four months and 11 days.
Title number seven arrived with Hamilton 35, 10 months and eight days old.
The 12 seasons between his first and most recent titles is the longest span in F1 history, with Schumacher (1994-2004) and Niki Lauda (1975-1984) next on the list.
Lauda edged out Alain Prost in 1984 by half a point in the last of his wins, the only margin narrower than the single point Hamilton beat Felipe Massa by in 2008.
He does not deal in such slender differences nowadays. The 124-point advantage he had over Valtteri Bottas last year stands as Hamilton's biggest personal margin over the driver in second place.
Vettel still holds the most processional title win, going back to 2013 when his Red Bull was 155 points better off than runner-up Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.
FAVOURITE RACES
Hamilton has won eight times at the Hungarian Grand Prix, sharing the record for most wins at a single circuit with Schumacher, who triumphed eight times in France.
With seven wins at the British Grand Prix, Hamilton holds the F1 record for most wins at a home race.
Hamilton has also triumphed seven times in Canada, with six wins apiece in China and the United States, which are both among his favourite tracks.
His career victories have come at an astonishing 29 different circuits and 28 different grands prix, highlighting his longevity, and a win in Austria on Sunday would kickstart his pursuit of further records.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
Norris 'surprised' by pole and expects tough Monza test
Lando Norris admitted his pole position at the Italian Grand Prix was "a surprise" after McLaren secured a second qualifying one-two of the season at Monza.
Norris, who is aiming to become the first McLaren driver since Lewis Hamilton in 2010 to win consecutive races, looks good to close the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen, who finished in seventh.
The Briton was just 0.109 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with Mercedes' George Russell 0.113s off the pace in third after an incredibly tight Saturday session.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth for Ferrari at the team's home event, with Hamilton in sixth.
Sergio Perez enjoyed a better qualifying session this time around and will start the race in eighth, while Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
Norris pipped Piastri by just 0.035s on his first lap in the top-10 shootout, before improving his time on his second attempt despite not being happy with his lap.
"To have a first and second when the field is as tight as it has been all weekend is a little bit of a surprise, but a nice one," Norris said.
"My lap, it hurts me to say it, was not a great lap. My first one was. But still good enough for pole and still very happy.
"There are a lot of quick drivers behind in quick cars, so I am not expecting an easy race. Plenty of question marks but a lot of excitement, I'm sure."
Verstappen, however, struggled with balance in the final qualifying session, having been expected to battle the two McLarens after a strong showing in Q2.
The three-time champion described the car as "shocking" at one point, and will have to come from midfield to claim a first win since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Should the Dutchman fail to win at Monza, it will be the first time since the 2020 season he has gone six races without a victory. He had a run of 11 winless races in a row that year from Spain to Sakhir.
"Q3 was very bad on both of my tyre sets. I just picked up a lot of understeer so I couldn't attack any corners any more," Verstappen said.
"I had to back it out a lot mid-corner and you lose a lot of lap time like that.
"Somehow in Q2 it wasn’t that bad. I did a 1:19.6 at that point and we were almost the quickest. We know our limitations and problems but at that point I think we had it fairly under control.
"But I went into Q3 and the balance was completely out, and I don't really understand how that happened."
Qualifying results
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
7. Max Versappen (Red Bull)
8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
9. Alex Albon (Williams)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
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