The seven-time champion and the defending champion team were well beaten in both Monte Carlo and Baku, losing their long consecutive points-scoring records of 54 and 55 races respectively as Red Bull took command with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez claiming victories.
Grosjean's Haas will be back on track after his car broke in two and burst into flames after it crashed into a barrier at 220km/h on the first lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix on November 29.
On a beautiful blue-skied day back at the track where Red Bull had dominated pre-season testing, the Dutchman continued where he had left off with an imperious late lap of 1:31.394 to finish top of the pile.
After reeling off seven consecutive constructors’ championships – and seven 'doubles' of team and driver titles - Hamilton’s 'black arrows' are under serious threat and both he and teammate Valtteri Bottas know it.
The attempt to land a drivers' crown that would move the 36-year-old Briton above Michael Schumacher to become the most decorated driver in the sport's history will go hand-in-hand with the issue of his future in Formula One.
The British driver, 36, will be bidding to win an unprecedented eighth world title when the season gets under way in Bahrain next month.
Lewis Hamilton has been recognised following a record-breaking year in which he eclipsed Michael Schumacher's all-time victory tally and emulated the German by winning a seventh world title.
Hamilton missed last Sunday's Sakhir GP but the FIA and Mercedes both confirmed that he had passed a number of negative COVID-19 tests after completing a 10-day quarantine period in Bahrain.
For 'The Daily Telegraph', the 'Marmite' factor (love him or loathe him) stems from the fact that 'Hamilton's tastes may not always sit perfectly with the traditional motor racing community'.
The Briton needs only to prevent his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas outscoring him by eight points to retain his crown and, in the eyes of many including former Ferrari rival Felipe Massa, move on to become the most successful in F1 history.
The six-time champion capitalised on teammate and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas's misfortune to notch up his 93rd career success and extend his lead in the drivers' title race.
Lewis Hamilton added that he was aware of speculation about his future and said it was a matter of timing for his negotiations, but stressed his commitment to Mercedes was unwavering.
Hungary is also a favourite for Hamilton, who has won there seven times and can equal Schumacher’s feat of winning the same grand prix eight times.
Seven months after the final race of 2019, the Finn, who had started from the 12th pole position of his career, led from start to finish to come home ahead on the road of team-mate six-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
Just hours after seeing Mercedes duo of six-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas top the times with a resounding one-two in their newly-painted ‘black arrows’ cars, it was confirmed that Red Bull had made a formal protest against them.
Sunday’s race, the first of two in Austria on successive weekends, will be the latest start to a championship after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the scheduled Australian opener on 15 March before a wheel had turned.
Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff said on Monday that his team's tie-up with Lewis Hamilton is the 'obvious pairing', with the future of the six-time world champion still unclear on the eve of the new season.
