Sebastian Vettel sealed his third pole-position of the season on Saturday with a stunning lap to pip his team-mate Mark Webber in Shanghai. Fernando Alonso will start from third, while British duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are line astern in fifth and sixth. With rain predicted, this morning's race has all the attributes to be a real classic. Follow all the action right here from 7.30am. And as ever I'd love to hear from you with your views, comments and predictions. Drop me a line on:
phil.duncan@dailymail.co.uk
LAP 21: Button comes in for the intermediate tyre. He still leads. Hamilton and Vettel pit and Webber gets the jump on the pair of them.
Drama for Alguersuari. He runs over his own front wing and he pits for a new one.
LAP 20: Webber and Schumcher are in for the intermediate tyre. As are the Ferrari duo of Massa and Alonso.
LAP 19: Out of nowhere, Button has passed Rosberg for the lead. Rosberg lost time running off at turn 11. It's starting to rain quite heavily in Shanghai.
LAP 18: Now it is Vettel's turn - he passes Schumacher and he is up to sixth. The Mercedes driver is struggling for traction coming out of the slower corners.
LAP 17: Hamilton is past Schumacher. Lewis gets the better drive out of 13 and passes him on the straght. Schumacher has a stab at re-passing Hamilton at the hairpin but Lewis gets the better exit. Hamilton up to fifth.
LAP 16: Hamilton is quicker than Schumacher on the back straight and slips one up the inside of the German on the back straight but Schumacher brakes latest and Hamilton is left to hang out to dry.
LAP 15: Great duel between Hamilton and Schumacher. The Brit is all over the seven-times champions. Rosberg is told over the radio that rain is expected in three minutes.
LAP 13: Easy for the Red Bulls. They fly past Sutil on the back straight. Hamilton is the quickest man on the track. He's two seconds quicker than the leaders but he is some 48 seconds behind Rosberg and co.
LAP 12: Hamilton takes Vettel and Sutil at the same corner and it looks as though Vettel touched Sutil. Hamilton is up to 8th but Vettel is still behind the Force India.
LAP 10: Kovalainen is a sitting duck for the Vettel-Hamilton-Webber trio. The three of them are on a charge.
LAP 8: Hamilton and Vettel have both passed Webber on the back straight. The trio are 50 seconds behind the leaders. It is starting to rain again in the pit-lane.
LAP 6: Drama in the pit-lane. Hamilton is released at the same time as Vettel and the pair touch wheels exiting the pits. I dare say, the two of them could be in trouble for that. Vettel is down in 15th. Hamilton is 16th.
LAP 5: Confirmation of a drive-through penalty for Alonso after being found guilty of jumping the start. Schumacher is in but he pits for slicks instead of the intermediate tyre. Vettel and Hamilton are struggling on the intermediate and they both pit for a new set of slicks.
LAP 4: Rosberg leads the way in China after Alonso pits for intermediates. Button is second but it looks as though the intermediate tyre is the best option. Surely Button and Rosberg will have to stop, but they are still staying out.
Jump start: Alonso served a drive-through penalty for his eager startLAP 3: Alonso is under investigation for his jump start. Hamilton and Massa and the Red Bulls are in for the intermediate tyre. But its a nightmare for Vettel. He has to queue behind his team-mate and drops down the field. Safety car is in at the of this lap.
LAP 2: Button on team radio: Alonso must have jumped the start! Looks like the Spaniard could be in a spot of bother. The safety car is still out.
LAP 1: Great star from Alonso. He gets the jump on the Red Bulls and Webber gets ahead of his team-mate. Four cars involved in an accident at the back of the field.
Lots of debris on the track and the safety car has been deployed. Suspicions that Alonso may have jumped the start. I'll keep you updated on that one. Liuzzi dropped it under braking taking out Buemi and Kobayashi to cause the accident.
7.58am: Nightmare for Timo Glock. He'll start from the pit-lane after his Virgin mechanics left him in the air.
7.55am: Right, just a quick reminder of the starting grid; Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Massa, Kubica, Schumacher, Sutil. Karun Chandhok and Lucas di Grassi wil start from the pit-lane.
7.50am: The rain has stopped in Shanghai. It looks as though all the teams will start on the dry tyre.
7.45am: Felipe Massa on the weather: 'Not enough to change the tyres for the moment. We're just looking to see whether it gets heavier before the start of the race.'
7.40am: Mark Webber from the grid: 'Looks like it is going to be more of an interesting race than we had a couple of weeks ago with the weather.'
On the Button: Jenson will start from fifth in Shanghai7.35am: Right, the umbrellas are up in Shanghai. The rain isn't heavy but the teams will have to decide whether to start on slicks or the intermediate tyre.
7.30am: Good morning guys and girls and welcome to Sportsmail's coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix.
Top three: Sebastian Vettel starts from pole ahead of Webber and Alonso source: dailymail
