Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix

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

Live Reporting

Jamie Strickland

Did qualifying flatter Rosberg?published at 05:48 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
"Lewis Hamilton has looked pretty imperious all weekend, and although he qualified only fractionally ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg, the actual margin between the two's consistent pace is probably bigger.
Image source, AP
"Hamilton was a quarter of a second up after their first runs and has been consistently quicker all weekend. But the world champion's final lap was not clean and that allowed Rosberg to close in. 'I had more time to come in that lap which I just didn't pull out otherwise the gap would have been the same, I think,' said Hamilton, blaming not getting the most out of his tyre. The Ferrari threat is certainly 'real', as Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff puts it, but Hamilton remains a strong favourite for the race victory."
Postpublished at 05:46 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Sauber on Twitter: There's no better way to start the day than knowing it's race day! Good morning from...
Image source, Sauber
A race full of eastern promisepublished at 05:42 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
"Two races down, a win apiece for Formula 1's two top teams, the Mercedes drivers separated by 0.04 seconds in qualifying and Malaysia winner Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari lining up right behind them.
"The Chinese Grand Prix promises a great deal."
But let's not get ahead of ourselves...published at 05:37 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Ferrari showed in Malaysia last time out that they can be more than a match for Mercedes if conditions are in their favour, and both teams have been talking up the potential of the scarlet cars in race trim.
It may yet turn out to be a closer contest than practice and qualifying suggests.
Image source, AP
Welcome alongpublished at 05:16 British Summer Time 12 April 2015
Smarting from a failed Grand National flutter? Bet against Jordan Spieth at Augusta? Ticked Cambridge on the Boat Race betting slip when you meant to put Oxford?
Well, your day might be about to get better if you bet the farm on Lewis Hamilton to win in China this weekend. The Mercedes man starts from his fifth pole in Shanghai - 41st overall - after seeing off team-mate Nico Rosberg by just 0.042secs in qualifying.
The qualifying gap between the bickering Silver Arrows and the chasing pack led Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was almost a second, so it could be a straight fight between Hamilton and Rosberg today.
Image source, AP
Rub the sleep from your eyespublished at 12:49 British Summer Time 11 April 2015
Yes it's early, but it's time to rise and shine and watch some motor racing.
To ease you into Sunday, here's a rather lovely picture of the Shanghai International Circuit paddock from yesterday evening, courtesy of the guys at Lotus.
Now get kettle on and settle down. Lights out at 07:00 BST.
Image source, Lotus F1