Fernando Alonso tells his pit wall he has a problem with the brakes, so in comes for some TLC to the Aston Martin garage.

Rookie Isack Hadjar is still in the top 10 but the Racing Bulls driver has dropped two places to ninth place.

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari and Charles Leclerc are going to try and hold out until the first stop to fix the damage on the Monegasque's car.

Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly flags an issue with the rear of Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin. The Spaniard is slowing down and pulling out of this race.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

The Ferraris came together and that damage of the front wing [on Charles Leclerc's car] was caused by Lewis Hamilton.

That could actually be contact between the two Ferraris - Max Verstappen, who is running in sixth place now and was on the outside of the pair, spotted the damage to Charles Leclerc car. The Monegasque driver was just tagged by his team-mate when Hamilton moved across the track.

Oscar Piastri is leading from Lando Norris, George Russell is third, Hamilton has moved to fourth and Leclerc is fifth.

Image source, Getty Images

Round two in China is on!

Oscar Piastri was a little bit slow off the line and George Russell thinks he sees a gap on the inside but the Australian stays ahead. Lando Norris does see a chance to pass, however, and Russell has now dropped to third. McLaren are running one and two now.

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are also tussling with each other and looks like the Ferrari driver has front wing damage.

Image source, Reuters

Oscar Piastri, on pole for the first time in his career, is heading towards the front of the grid on his medium tyres. The Australian parks up, with George Russell, Max Verstappen and McLaren team-mate Lando Norris just behind.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Image source, Getty Images

I don't think Max Verstappen has got the quickest car this year. I do think the McLaren and some of the others have taken a big step.

Verstappen is having to push harder and therefore the tyre management is going out the window. I think we will see him struggle in the last seven to eight laps of each stint.

With four or five teams putting their hats in the ring for a race victory today, the fans are representing a wide range of drivers in the grandstands.

Liam Lawson (from the pit lane), Oliver Bearman and Lance Stroll are starting on the hard tyres. The rest have opted for the mediums.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I think they [Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris] are very matched on pace; it's going to be really interesting to see the dynamic on if they work together or if we see a papaya all out battle towards the end.

Andrew Benson has been commentating on the action all weekend and will be ready to answer your questions following the Chinese Grand Prix later on.

All your thoughts can be sent to us via the link here

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Polesitter Oscar Piastri spoke to Sky Sports: "I'm just trying to work on the normal things, just try and get a better start, try and manage the tyres a bit better and see what we can do.

"I think everybody would have learnt a lot from yesterday in the sprint. We got a bit of chaos so I think everyone is a bit wiser. It's going to be pretty tough out there."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Harry Benjamin, Sam Bird and Andrew Benson are in position and ready to take us through the action. Click the 'listen live' tab at the top of this page to tune in.

Commentary is also available on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and via most smart speakers by asking BBC Sounds to play the Chinese Grand Prix.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Pirelli

The official race strategy predictions say this is a two-stop race, most likely on a set of medium compound tyres and then two sets of hard. But the teams are not so sure. The hard - the C2 compound for this race - is brand new this year and no one has used it so far this weekend - only in Bahrain pre-season testing, where it proved a strong performer.

That means, depending on how it performs, some teams might be tempted to try a one-stop.

McLaren have a pace advantage, which either driver should be able to exploit if he has free air - most likely Oscar Piastri, given he starts from pole. And free air - as Lewis Hamilton’s imperious win in the sprint proved - provides a key advantage. As much as 0.5secs a lap, it is estimated.

Graining - where the surface of the tyre tears and reduces grip - is likely to be a problem for all teams at one point or another. Expect the first stops somewhere around the mid-teens. Total pit loss is about 25 seconds, or 15 under the safety car.

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Air temperature is 27.3C and track 38.5C. Wind from the west; gusts to 23mph during the past hour. Dry; cloud increasing & later this afternoon/eve, a few light showers are likely.

FIA official risk of rain is 10%.

Charles Leclerc will start in sixth in the Ferrari, he told Sky Sports: "I'm feeling good, the target is to try and recover in what was a difficult weekend for me. [I want] a good start and then hopefully the pace will be there to come back in front."

Image source, Getty Images

Carlos Sainz, like Lewis Hamilton, is trying to find his feet in a new team this season. The Spaniard was an early retirement in Melbourne a week ago and will start P15 in his Williams today. When it comes to qualifying, Sainz wrote on X he loses feeling with the car when he starts to push, especially in the final sector in Shanghai. "We made big set-up changes for the race, hopefully we’ll be in better shape," he added.

His new team-mate Alex Albon, meanwhile, lining up P10, has made it in to the pole shootout at each qualifying event so far this campaign and says the car is "heading in the right direction".

We should also wish Albon a happy 29th birthday today!

Martin Brundle on Sky Sports has caught up with Briton Ollie Bearman and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli on the grid. Both drivers say the wind is a little bit different compared to yesterday, notably a tailwind in to Turns One and Two.

Start the music. It's national anthem time.

Former world champion Damon Hill pays tribute to Eddie Jordan after the ex-Formula 1 team boss' death on Thursday at the age of 76.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari race engineer said the seven-time world champion gave a "masterclass in tyre management" during his sprint victory, so who else has the ability to nurse their tyres, for even an even longer distance, today?

The C3 medium compound was chosen for the shorter race and by the end of 19 laps, most drivers were flagging issues with the front left. Lando Norris said graining, and not just temperature, was a major factor in the front rubber dropping off.

Most teams have two sets of the C2 hard compound for today's grand prix. But as they haven't been run in any session yet, how they will shape up on the newly resurfaced track is still an unknown.

Image source, Getty Images

What's also going against Liam Lawson this weekend is the performance of the Racing Bulls.

Fellow rookie Isack Hadjar made it through to the top 10 shootout and will line up in seventh, while Yuki Tsunoda - the man who many think should've got the Red Bull seat - scored points in the sprint and starts ninth.

Hadjar told Sky Sports after qualifying perfected his race start will be the key to hopefully bringing home his debut points in Formula 1. Although to do that, he needs to defend any attack from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who starts eighth.