National anthem time as the drivers all line up on the grid in front of some chaps in uncomfortably tight shorts holding up a large Chinese flag.

Hubert on #bbcf1 has predicted a Ferrari one-two and is also expecting one heck of a drive by Max Verstappen, who he sees jumping from 16th to fourth. I'd take that.

Make your top 10 predictions here.

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would put Lewis Hamilton joint-second in the all-time list alongside some very illustrious company...  

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Most podiums

1. Michael Schumacher (155)

2. Alain Prost (106)

3. Lewis Hamilton (105)

4. Fernando Alonso (97)

5. Sebastian Vettel (87)

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Mercedes calculated that the 0.001secs difference that separated Valtteri Bottas in third with Sebastian Vettel in second was 5.91cm over a lap. Bottas preferred “a real shame”. But, languid fellow that he is, he was not making a big deal of it. “When we’re on the grid, it doesn’t matter,” the Finn said. 

“I always tend to get all the points from the qualifying that I need to improve and what we need to improve as a team. We move on and on Sunday I’m not going to think about the one thousandth. It’s a new day and a completely new opportunity and we are going to do everything we can to be one and two and for me still chasing my career-best result.” 

That means a win, in case you didn't know.

Image source, EPA

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One of the great qualifying top three photos.

Valtteri Bottas with the hover hand and Sebastian Vettel sheepishly photobombing.

Bottas was just 0.001 seconds off Vettel's time. No wonder he looks a bit miffed.

A touch under 30 minutes to go until lights out and the pitlane is open. A mix of inters and wet tyres on the cars heading out onto the grid.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer start from the back after being adjudged not to have slowed sufficiently for Antonio Giovinazzi’s crash at the final corner in qualifying. 

Grosjean was particularly aggrieved by the judgement that the telemetry and video evidence “clearly showed that the driver attempted to set a meaningful lap time after passing through a double waved yellow marshalling sector” and he posted a photo of a telemetry sheet which appeared to show he both braked earlier for the last corner, was slower through it and backed off on the straight, too, giving what he said was a 45km/h difference between that lap and his best. Regardless, he has three penalty points on his licence. 

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BBC Radio 5 live

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Build up to the race is under way on BBC Radio 5 live and online right now. 

Chirag Sheth: Got 5 hrs sleep - Chinese GP on. Sleep over. Come on Lewis! 

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Valtteri Bottas looks a little uncertain about what his former-team has told him. Wonder what Felipe Massa said?

Jacques Villeneuve, if you're reading this, happy birthday.

The 1997 F1 world champion is 46 today...

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Jolyon Palmer had another difficult weekend, flat-spotting his first set of tyres and then earning a penalty for not slowing for yellow flags when Antonio Giovinazzi crashed, Nico Hulkenberg excelled in the other Renault, an impressive seventh on the grid, just pipped by Felipe Massa. 

After spending much of the Melbourne race trapped behind Fernando Alonso’s underpowered McLaren, Hulkenberg is looking forward to what he hopes will be a strong race. 

It was noteworthy that he was only 0.5secs off the Red Bulls, which use the same engine. Which underlines the fact Renault are making serious progress now the team is back up to something like a decent strength after being stripped back under previous owners Genii Capital.

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How do you see the top 10 looking at the end of the race? Make your predictions here  and post them to #bbcf1

This is Joe's top 10:

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Antonio Giovinazzi, Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer have all been given grid penalties, so this is the grid after those have been applied.

1) Hamilton 2) Vettel 3) Bottas 4) Raikkonen 5) Ricciardo 6) Felipe Massa 7) Hulkenberg 8 Perez 9) Kvyat 10) Stroll

11) Sainz 12) Magnussen 13) Alonso 14) Ericsson 15) Vandoorne 16) Verstappen 17) Ocon 18) Giovinazzi 19) Grosjean 20) Palmer

Joanna Harran:  "When you have been to a family party but still up early for F1 . Morning all. I need coffee."

Hardcore, Joanna.   

Check out Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen's table tennis skills in the above video.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

A Red Bull was again fifth, and again it was a long way back from the top two teams. This time it was Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen stranded in Q1 with a mapping-related misfire. 

"I think that's where we are now,” Ricciardo said. “It was pretty well balanced. We're just down on downforce, down on grip at the moment. It's a pure amount of grip as opposed to set-up not quite being there.” 

Both are hoping that a wet race could level things up a bit, but as Verstappen pointed out on Thursday, a lack of downforce is what it is, wet or dry.

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Sebastian Vettel thinks it is more like Silverstone than Shanghai. It's definitely wet out there, and it's so cold Daniel Ricciardo says he can feel his nose running.

Check it out in the video above (the rain, not Ricciardo's runny nose).

Image source, Getty Images

Fernando Alonso, winner of this race in 2005 and 2013, is the only driver on the grid to have finished every race in China. 

Will he keep his record intact today?

Jerimiah Kariuki: Alonso, the master of all conditions and good in driving like an animal! Trust him to get at least a point for McLaren.

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