Lining uppublished at 07:03 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Aggressive grid positioning from Hamilton.
He's going to cut across his team-mate here.
Watch this space.
Summary
Hamilton defends himself after Rosberg accuses him of deliberately slowing him down
Briton says: "I'm not really quite sure what his problem is"
Hamilton wins, Rosberg 2nd, Vettel 3rd, Raikkonen 4th, Massa 5th
Button and Maldonado crash after battling for position
Bottas 6th, Grosjean 7th, Nasr 8th, Ricciardo 9th, Ericsson 10th
Hulkenberg, Kvyat, Maldonado, Verstappen out
Lining uppublished at 07:03 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Formation lap startspublished at 07:00 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
The cars are all away on the formation lap.
Top 10 are all on soft tyres.
Image source, Getty ImagesInteresting, very interestingpublished at 06:59 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
David Coulthard
BBC F1 co-commentator"What Ferrari had in their favour in Malaysia was their use of tyres. Can they replicate that?
"Tyre choice is going to be key today. It is hot for China and it is going to be interesting."
How they line up - 11-20published at 06:58 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
11. Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Lotus
12. Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull
13. Max Verstappen (Ned) Toro Rosso
14. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Toro Rosso
15. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India
16. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India
17. Jenson Button (GB) McLaren
18. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren
19. Will Stevens (GB) Manor Marussia
20. Roberto Merhi (Spa) Manor Marussia
Get involved - #bbcf1published at 06:57 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Paul Marsh: Looking for another good drive from Raikkonen today! He was brilliant last time out but was overlooked by Seb's win. Go Kimi!!
Rob: Hamilton to win, Vettel second and Rosberg in third.
Chris Smith: Looking forward to this, all mixed up and no certainties. Fingers crossed that #JB22 can grab a top ten.
What the papers saypublished at 06:57 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Image source, Sunday TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph's, external coverage of qualifying centres on the possibility of a rift developing between Mercedes and their driver Nico Rosberg, who was not haapy with the "pressure" he was put on by the team during qualifying.
Three-way fightpublished at 06:57 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Niki Lauda, Mercedes non-executive chairman: "It's going to be big fight between Lewis, Nico and Sebastian.
"We try to learn out of every mistake and I think we are well prepared but it is not going to be easy."
How they line up - top 10published at 06:56 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes - 1:35.782
2. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes - 1:35.824
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari - 1:36.687
4. Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams - 1:36.954
5. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams - 1:37.143
6. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari - 1:37.232
7. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull - 1:37.540
8. Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus - 1:37.905
9. Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber - 1:38.067
10. Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber - 1:38.158
FIVE MINUTES TO GO!published at 06:55 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Feeling pumped?
Image source, EPADry race forecastpublished at 06:54 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
BBC weather forecaster Ian Fergusson Twitter: 10 mins to race start: air temp 20.7C; track 47C. Light breeze from ENE. Dry conditions throughout the race.
Two stops on the cards?published at 06:52 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer"Strategy-wise, this is an unusually open race. Two stops is the most likely, but the time difference between two stints on the 'softs' and one on the 'medium' and vice versa is small - some teams say as little as 2.5 seconds over a race distance. Ferrari saved a set of 'option' tyres through qualifying and also have much lower tyre degradation than everyone else, so are considered likely to do two stints on the soft.
Image source, EPA"Mercedes also have extra softs and probably don't need to shadow them - and doing so could be a mistake - but might be tempted after their defeat in Malaysia, despite Nico Rosberg's observation that the soft 'is going to fall apart at some point, quite dramatically'. But doing two stints on the soft depends on how long you can make them last.
"If each set will do only 14-15 laps, that's not enough. First stops could be as early as lap 11 but are more likely around lap 15. And the hotter conditions of race day throw in another curve ball - no-one knows how that will affect degradation. It is a race to be managed on the fly."
Postpublished at 06:50 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Lotus on Twitter: Grid presentation about to start. Helpfully, they have chosen to perform right by our pitwall. So kind!
Image source, LotusWhat the papers saypublished at 06:49 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Image source, Sunday MirrorYou might struggle to find any F1 coverage in the national press this morning but we've picked you out a few snippets. The Sunday Mirror focuses on world champion Lewis Hamilton having to deal with a hot seat on Saturday.
Battle joined in midfieldpublished at 06:49 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer"There promises to be a very close fight for the minor points positions between four teams that, as Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr puts it, 'are within half a second - Red Bull, Lotus, Sauber and ourselves'. Red Bull teams of one kind or another book-end that group, with Daniel Ricciardo in seventh and his team-mate Daniil Kvyat in 12th, just ahead of the Toro Rossos, led by Max Verstappen, and the Lotuses and Saubers in between.
Image source, EPA"Both Verstappen and and Sainz felt they could have done better, while Kvyat says he was hampered by recurring power-unit problems that meant that when he did get his one decent lap he had 'no rhythm'. Ricciardo, meanwhile, actually has hopes of challenging the Williams cars for fifth place, saying he believes the Red Bull is much more competitive on race pace."
Postpublished at 06:47 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Red Bull Racing Spy: No shortage of mod-cons in our team bus this week…
Image source, Red Bull Racing SpyHamilton keeps good companypublished at 06:46 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Image source, EPA/Getty ImagesHigh five - how Hamilton compares
Lewis Hamilton - Shanghai (5)
Juan Manuel Fangio - Monza (5)
Ayrton Senna - Imola (8), Adelaide (6), Monza (5), Monaco (5)
Michael Schumacher - Suzuka (8), Barcelona (7), Hungaroring (7), Montreal (6), Sepang (5), Imola (5)
Watch Hamilton's pole lappublished at 06:45 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Lewis Hamilton loves the Shanghai International Circuit, and yesterday earned his fifth pole position at the track to join some pretty illustrious company.
McLaren improving despite appearancespublished at 06:45 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer"It says something for how far McLaren have come since the start of the season - and also for how far they still have to go - that Jenson Button was disappointed to miss out on getting through into second qualifying by just over 0.2secs. Only a month ago in Melbourne, after all, the McLarens were 1.5secs off the next slowest car. And the gap to the pace-setter in Q1 - Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel - was down to 1.7secs, when it had been more like four or five seconds to the Mercedes in Australia.
Image source, Getty Images"Button also beat team-mate Fernando Alonso for the second race in a row - albeit by only 0.004secs after the Spaniard had missed all of final practice. Alonso did not seek to use that as an excuse, saying he was happy with his lap. For the Spaniard, who was substantially faster than Button in the race last time out, the priority for the race in China is to finish with both cars, to accelerate the much-needed learning process."
Get involved - #bbcf1published at 06:44 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Illuminati: I fancy Vettel to take the #ChineseGP despite the 3rd position in qualifying
Stan Isaac Mugi: Hope Mercedes team has a better strategy today, also hope they've practiced pitstop timing
Francis Waso: McLaren to use phrases 'encouraging', 'progress', 'closer, 'improvement' post race while 'shambolic' & 'disastrous' more in order
Postpublished at 06:43 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Toro Rosso on Twitter: Drivers ready, in their cars. We'll be off to grid soon. Yes it's time, THAT time!
Image source, Toro Rosso