Lewis Hamilton on pole! 1) Hamilton, 2) Rosberg, 3) Vettel, 4) Massa, 5) Botas, 6) Raikkonen, 7) Ricciardo, 8) Grosjean, 9) Nasr, 10) Ericsson. Q2: 11) Maldonado, 12) Kvyat, 13) Verstappen, 14) Sainz, 15) Perez. Q1: 16) Hulkenberg, 17) Button, 18) Alonso, 19) Merhi, 20) Stevens.
9:10. Well that's it from us here at VAVEL. Feel free to join our debate, will Toro Rosso outperform Red Bull tomorrow? Let me know by tweeting me at @AaronIrwin7 or use the hashtag #VAVELF1. I've been Aaron Irwin, and We'll be back tomorrow for the live race show! See you then, goodbye.
9:05. Williams' first top five start in China since the inaugural race here with Ralf Schumacher in 2004.
Q3: An exasperated Nco Rosberg on the radio: "Oh come on guys." Clearly not happy at still being second best.
Q3: Rosberg second with Sebastian Vettel third. Both Williams' ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in sixth.
Q3: Lewis Hamilton is on pole position by 0.042 seconds! His third pole in China in a row.
Q3: Chequered flag! Who's going to get pole?
Q3: Only the two Saubers yet to post a time. Hamilton fastest, from Rosberg and Massa, Vettel fourth with Bottas, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Grosjean rounding off the top ten.
Q3: Hamilton sets a 1:35:7, proof the track is evolving over time here, with Rosberg just three tenths slower than Lewis.
Q3: Bottas appears to be fighting with his car. He wrestles the steering wheel through the corners.
Q3: Back underway here in China, cars being prepped to get out on track.
8:45. So who'a getting Pole here? hard to see past Lewis here, Nico has a shot but Hamilton is superior over one lap.
8:45. The first time both Saubers have made it through to Q3 since the 2013 US Grand Prix, great stuff from Ericsson and Nasr!
Q2: Both Toro Rosso's are eliminated here, Maldonado, Kvyat, Verstappen, Sainz and Perez miss out on the shootout. Shocked to see Kvyat out in Q2. stay tuned for Q3!
Q2: Chequered flag is out, Ericsson through to the top ten, as is Nasr, Perez is out as he can't beat the benchmark needed.
Q2: A minute to go here, drop zone is Mssa, Ericsson, Nasr, Perez and Kvyat.
Q2: Raikkonen goes third with a 1:37:1. Six tenths off Hamilton's Mercedes.
Q2: Lot of the cars back in the pits, currently only a few cars out on track. Raikkonen is one of them, and is currently three tenths down on Hamilton.
Q2: Hamilton is literally in the hot seat, he's telling is engineer his seat is getting hot, not the first time this weekend the Brit has had this issue.
Q2: A 1:36:4! Great lap from Hamilton in his W06. Rosberg three tenths down with a 1:36:7.
Q2: Bottas crosses the line with a 1:38:4, Hamilton on track, what can the champion do?
Q2: Huge lockup from Kvyat in Q1. Poor tyres...
Q2: We're back racing here, who's going to make it into the shootout? With Ferrari, Mercedes and maybe Williams safe, it's between Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Lotus, Sauber and Sergio Perez of Force India to fight it out.
8:20. Glad to see I predicted a Force India go out, shame it was the wrong one, the fight for the top ten could be an interesting one.
Q1: Chequered flag is out! Verstappen goes fifth, Grosjean fourth,Hulkenberg, Button, Alonso, Merhi and Stevens out here. Track evolving here with the times getting faster. Still progress made from McLaren here.
Q1: Bottom five is as follows... Sainz, Maldonado, Grosjean, Stevens, Merhi. McLaren pair slipping down the order, with Toro Rosso's Verstappen perilously close to the drop zone too.
Q1: Bottas goes fastest with a 1:38:0, good effort from the Finn. Team mate Felipe Massa goes across the line... third, around four tenths off Bottas' benchmark.
Q1: McLaren sit eighth and tenth, can they make it into Q2? Looks possible here.
Q1: Bottas, Massa and Kvyat are the only drivers not to have set a competitive time. Meanwhile the bottom five times currently are Maldonado, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Stevens, Merhi.
Q1: Felipe Nasr of Sauber heads out to post his times, currently sitting in fourth.
Q1: McLaren's Fernando Alonso out on track here, can he post a competitive time? He goes eighth with a 1:40:3.
Q1: Nico Rosberg posts a time and he is two tenths down on Hamilton, he goes second fastest. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg is currently third fastest with a 1:39:2.
Q1: Sebastian Vettel goes fastest with a 1:39, a solid lap from the German. Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso goes second, with Raikkonen third. Cars seem tp be lapping around the 1:40 mark. Lewis Hamilton posts a 1:38:2, blistering from the Brit.
Q1: My mistake, Manor's Roberto Merhi posts the first time of the afternoon, a 1:44:9.
Q1: Lewis Hamilton heads out to post his time, big things expected from the champion here. while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen looks set to post the first time of the afternoon.
Q1: We're underway here! Cars out on track.
7:55. Valterri Bottas getting ready to get in the car ahead of Q1.
7:50. Only ten minutes to go here until Q1, battle commences here as Mercedes and Ferrari will fight to gain the upper hand ahead of tomorrow's race! stay tuned here.
7:45. Fernando Alonso sat out P3 with an engine issue, however the issue has been fixed with no engine change needed.
7:40. Williams' Valterri Bottas: "We have got to just keep doing what we're doing." Ferrari have leapfrogged Williams this season, will there be any fightback from the Grove team?
7:35. Sparks are going to fly here in China with Ferrari and Mercedes, here's an example from Lewis Hamilton...
7:30. McLaren could go the first three races without a point for the first time since 1981 here, a worrying record for the Woking team.
7:25. My prediction for Q1: Expect to see the Manors out here, possibly the McLarens with the addition of a or Force India. Prediction: Perez, Button, Alonso, Merhi, Stevens.
7:20. But also turn one is one which is a challenge, a right hand turn which almost goes back on itself, it's difficult to get the braking right, so expect fireworks on the start on Sunday.
7:15. The most intriguing part of the circuit here in Shanghai is the long back straight. One of the ,ongest in Fprmula One it's always good for overtaking manourveres.
7:10. The top five of the 2014 Chinese GP grid..
1) Hamilton, 2) Ricciardo, 3) Vettel, 4) Rosberg, 5) Alonso
7:05. Nice to see Manor hae a sense of humour... they tweeted...
'Big Smile from @WillStevens_ this morning. Must be that lucky egg, Looking a little like a seal in this shot.'
7:00. It's still fantastic to see Ferrari back where they belong, at the very front of the grid. But can they really be challenging for the title this season?
6:55. So what to expect from qualifying here in China, Mercedes are faster in outright one lap pace, so qualifying will go the way of Mercedes, with Ferrari in tow behind them. Predicting another Hamilton pole with Vettel joining him on the front row.
6:50. McLaren seem to have regressed back into the problems they had previously, with Jenson Button 15th and Fernando Alonso not setting a time, we should not be getting carried away with McLaren this weekend.
6:45. It was no surprise to see Lewis Hamilton go fastest in this morning's final practice session. He finished ahead of Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.
6:40. If you’d like to relive these moments or read up on them for the first time then feel free to read our classic races article here.
6:35. Shanghai hasn’t been on the calendar long, first hosting a race in 2004, but it’s been the scene of some modern Formula One iconic moments. Such as Michael Schumacher’s final win in the sport in 2006 at the third attempt. Or Lewis Hamilton beaching his McLaren in the gravel when coming into the pits in 2007.
6:30. Not long until Qualifying is underway, the talking point of this week is ‘Can Toro Rosso outperform Red Bull for the second race in a row?’ Let me know what you think by tweeting me at @AaronIrwin7 or by using the #VAVELF1 hashtag.
6:25. The hardest driver to predict at the moment is Felipe Nasr. He went from finishing fifth on his debut in Australia, to qualifying 16th and finishing 12th. What will become of the Brazilian rookie? Will we see a top performance or an average one?
6:20. The Williams pair of Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa have had a quiet start to the season so far, with neither driver taking headlines, but simply motoring on and putting points on the board. Surely that’s every team bosses dream?
6:15. Also with Red Bull battling off track, surely Williams will seize this opportunity to try and usurp them as the third best team on the track.
6:10. Another key point here, will Toro Rosso continue to show up the Red Bull pair? As the dispute continues between Red Bull and engine supplier Renault, Toro Rosso and their two young rookies Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz continue to impress.
6:05. Here’s last year’s pole lap, set by, no surprise here, Lewis Hamilton. The Brit posted a 1:53:860 in wet conditions to surpass the British record number of poles, formerly held by Jim Clark (33).
6:00. Also hopefully, we’ll see more from Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen this weekend. Both have played understudy like roles in recent races, with Rosberg looking a shadow of the driver he was in 2014. Also with Raikkonen’s contract soon expiring, the Finn will want to prove he can still cut it at the top level.
5:55. The German said: We are realistic about where we are and what we want to achieve. The targets haven't changed. "Usually you need a couple of races to really understand where you are. We have a decent understanding but the target is to confirm the fact that we were very close to the top cars in Australia, fighting with Williams for the podium, and in Sepang two weeks ago we were close enough to win and that was a great success.”
5:50. This comes after Sebastian Vettel claimed that Ferrari’s targets of two wins this season haven’t changed.
5:45. It’s being said that over the course of one lap, Mercedes are the stronger, meaning we’re likely to see another Silver Arrows pole here, but Ferrari’s long run stints are better and faster than Mercedes, meaning we’re in for a real treat should this come to fruition.
5:40. The 35 year old Brit also added: "It's always tricky when you start off having done not a lot of mileage over the winter and for everyone it was a big surprise that we finished in Melbourne. For the outside world, they probably didn't think we made a big step from Melbourne to Malaysia, but we did - it was very, very big.”
5:35. Button this week has claimed that McLaren’s future is great, saying: "A lot of people have asked me how l am so positive and how the team is so upbeat and it is because we see a great future."
5:30. P2 was more interesting as a track invader ran across the pit straight and hopped over the pitwall. Meanwhile in terms of cars Hamilton went quickest again with McLaren’s Jenson Button managing to break into the top ten, with a time that was just over two seconds slower than Hamilton’s benchmark time.
5:25. Practice One was largely uneventful, with Lewis Hamilton going fastest from Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. The surprise being the progress of McLaren. The struggling team managed to post more competitive times on a circuit they said would mask their progress made so far.
5:20. And here’s the Constructors standings..
1) Mercedes 76, 2) Ferrari 52, 3) Williams 30, 4) Sauber 14, 5) Toro Rosso 12, 6) Red Bull 11, 7) Force India 7 – Lotus, McLaren, Manor all 0
5:15. As we prepare for Qualifying, here’s a reminder of the current drivers’ standings after two races.
1) Hamilton 43, 2) Vettel 40, 3) Rosberg 33, 4) Massa 20, 5) Raikkonen 12, 6) Nasr 10, 7) Bottas 10, 8) Ricciardo 9, 9) Verstappen 6, 10) Hulkenberg 6, 11) Sainz 6, 12) Ericsson 4, 13) Kvyat 2, 14) Perez 1
5:10. With Sebastian Vettel taking victory in Malaysia last time out, the whole paddock is hoping this means Ferrari can fight Mercedes for this season’s title. Also many pundits called Vettel’s masterful win at Sepang the win that Formula One needed.
5:05. The big talking point ahead of this weekend is whether Ferrari can continue to pose a threat to Mercedes.
5:00. Good Morning, and welcome to the live feed for Qualifying ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix! I’m Aaron Irwin and I’ll be guiding you through the events and goings on as Formula One descends upon Shanghai.