| 13:51:08
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. The session gets underway in ten minutes. |
| 13:52:59
| This event, being the penultimate round of the championship, is critical in terms of both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix could be decisive in determining the outcome. |
| 13:54:45
| Nick Heidfeld set the pace in practice this morning with a best lap of 1:36.061s. The German veteran may not be in contention for the pole position today, but he will be looking to ensure he makes it firmly into the top ten this weekend. |
| 13:56:35
| Lewis Hamilton was second fastest this morning having topped both of the Friday sessions. The championship leader is looking strong this weekend especially as Felipe Massa was just 12th in the morning practice session. When it counts however, it would be foolish to discount the Ferrari challenge. |
| 13:58:34
| Robert Kubica was third fastest in practice behind Heidfeld and Hamilton and ahead of Kovalainen, Trulli, Rosberg, Bourdais, Coulthard, Nakajima and Piquet. Kubica remains a championship contender so BMW will probably go for an aggressive strategy to ensure Kubica is well up the order in qualifying. |
| 14:00:11
| The first qualifying session is underway. This is a 20 minute session and the slowest five will be eliminated ahead of Q2. |
| 14:00:41
| Nelson Piquet is the first man on track in his Renault. He is on the harder tyre for his first run. |
| 14:01:04
| Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button head out for Williams and Honda. |
| 14:01:32
| Sutil, Barrichello, Fisichella, Glock, Nakajima head out. |
| 14:02:39
| Piquet is now on his first timed lap. |
| 14:03:59
| Piquet's first lap is a 1:37.5, eight-tenths off his practice pace. |
| 14:04:36
| Now Glock moves fastest from Piquet, Barrichello, Rosberg, Button and Nakajima. |
| 14:05:12
| Massa, Bourdais, and Vettel are on track as well. |
| 14:05:26
| Piquet pits his Renault as Raikkonen heads out. |
| 14:05:58
| Vettel is on the soft tyre for his first run. |
| 14:06:14
| Hamilton and Kovalainen head out for McLaren. |
| 14:06:57
| Based on the morning lap times, a time below 1:37 will be needed to be in the top 15 and make it into Q2. |
| 14:07:26
| Vettel moves fastest in his Toro Rosso. Glock is second ahead of Piquet, Barrichello, Rosberg and Button. |
| 14:08:01
| A clean lap from Massa as he moves fastest for now. |
| 14:08:27
| A good lap from Bourdais on the soft tyre as he moves second. |
| 14:08:35
| Kovalainen moves second. |
| 14:08:58
| Vettel stays out and improves to second. |
| 14:09:15
| Hamilton moves fastest by half a second on the hard tyre. |
| 14:09:36
| All on track apart from Glock. |
| 14:10:07
| Hamilton is fastest from Massa, Vettel, Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Bourdais. |
| 14:10:32
| Coulthard moves into the top ten. |
| 14:11:02
| The slowest five at the moment are Sutil, Fisichella, Nakajima, Button and Rosberg. |
| 14:11:35
| Alonso moves seventh in the Renault. |
| 14:12:01
| A gain from Piquet as he moves third and will now be safe to make it into Q2. |
| 14:12:42
| Rosberg improves and is now ninth in his Williams. |
| 14:13:19
| Kubica is now amongst the slowest five in P16 ahead of Button, Glock, Sutil and Fisichella. |
| 14:13:36
| Glock improves and is now seventh. |
| 14:13:59
| The front-runners have pitted. |
| 14:14:46
| Five minutes remain and Kubica remains on track and not improving on the hard tyre. Now he pits. |
| 14:15:26
| Massa, Raikkonen and Kovalainen head back out. |
| 14:15:42
| Raikkonen is 12th and in danger of not making the cut. |
| 14:17:20
| Many others are now heading back out with three minutes remaining. |
| 14:17:50
| All on track except Hamilton and Piquet. |
| 14:18:32
| Kovalainen moves second fastest as Massa does not improve on that lap. |
| 14:18:46
| Raikkonen moves fourth and should be safe. |
| 14:19:14
| Trulli, 15th, is now on the soft tyre as is Kubica in 17th. |
| 14:20:05
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 14:20:23
| Vettel moves third fastest. |
| 14:20:32
| Trulli moves seventh. |
| 14:20:58
| Kubica moves 14th. |
| 14:21:33
| Barrichello moves 15th. Nakajima does not improve. |
| 14:21:42
| Alonso moves fourth. |
| 14:22:08
| A good job from Barrichello who has made it into the second round of qualifying. |
| 14:22:46
| A bad day for Red Bull as Webber will have a grid penalty for an engine change and Coulthard is elininated after being 16th in this session. |
| 14:23:10
| Nakajima, Button, Sutil and Fisichella also eliminated. |
| 14:23:23
| There is now a short pause ahead of Q2. |
| 14:27:19
| The second round of qualifying is underway. This is a 15 minute session and the slowest five will be eliminated ahead of Q3. |
| 14:28:29
| No-one on track as yet. Looking at the times a low 1:36 will be needed to make Q3. |
| 14:28:55
| Raikkonen heads out in his Ferrari. |
| 14:29:40
| Timo Glock follows out in his Toyota. Raikkonen is straight out on the soft tyre. |
| 14:30:07
| Others are now heading out. |
| 14:30:38
| Raikkonen starts his first flying lap. The so-far dominant Hamilton heads out. |
| 14:32:03
| All on track except the BMW Sauber duo. They normally head out as the others complere their first lap. |
| 14:32:24
| Raikkonen sets the initial pace on a 1:35.4 from Glock. |
| 14:32:47
| Hamilton remains on the hard tyre for now. |
| 14:33:40
| Kovalainen moves fastest from Raikkonen, Vettel and Alonso. Trulli is fifth ahead of Webber, Glock and Piquet. |
| 14:33:54
| Now Massa moves P1 on the softer tyre. |
| 14:34:21
| Hamilton's first lap on the soft tyre moves him fifth. |
| 14:34:56
| Heidfeld and Kubica are now on track as the early runners pit. |
| 14:35:31
| Rosberg is slowest of the 13 runners so far. |
| 14:36:22
| Kubica gets a lot of oversteer through turn 13. |
| 14:36:47
| Kubica moves tenth in his BMW Sauber. |
| 14:37:03
| A better lap from Heidfeld as he moved P6. |
| 14:37:52
| Hamilton, fifth, will need to run again. |
| 14:38:44
| They are all back in the pits ahead of a final run. Three minutes remain. |
| 14:38:59
| Bourdais and Glock head out. |
| 14:39:19
| Others are now heading out. |
| 14:39:43
| All on track except the fastest four of Massa, Kovalainen, Raikkonen and Vettel. |
| 14:41:06
| They all seems to be on the soft tyre as Bourdais, ninth, starts a timed lap. |
| 14:42:03
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 14:42:14
| Bourdais moves eighth. |
| 14:42:36
| Trulli stays P9. |
| 14:42:49
| Hamilton moves fastest. |
| 14:43:44
| So a disaster for Kubica as he is 12th. He'll start 11th as Webber takes the grid position penalty. |
| 14:44:26
| Piquet, Kubica, Glock, Barrichello and Rosberg are eliminated. Williams have slipped behind Honda today. |
| 14:45:06
| Hamilton was fastest in that session with a 1:34.9 from Massa and Kovalainen. There is now a pause as race fuel is added to the cars for Q3. |
| 14:50:10
| The final ten minute round of qualifying is now underway. |
| 14:50:50
| Jarno Trulli and Sebastian Vettel head out. |
| 14:51:25
| Raikkonen, Hamilton, Bourdais and others are heading out. |
| 14:51:37
| Vettel is on the hard tyre for his first run. |
| 14:53:28
| Strategy now comes into play. Who will run light to try and gain the pole position? All ten runners are now on track. |
| 14:54:16
| Vettels' first lap is a 1:38, some 2.7 seconds slower than he was in Q2 indicating a heavy fuel load. |
| 14:55:01
| Raikkonen moves fastest on a 1:36.9 from Webber. |
| 14:55:12
| Massa moves third, Hamilton fourth. |
| 14:55:25
| Alonso moves fifth ahead of Heidfeld and Vettel. |
| 14:55:47
| Kovalainen moves fastest. |
| 14:56:28
| So after the first runs, strategy is coming into play with Kovalainen fastest from Raikkonen, Webber, Massa, Hamilton, Alonso, Heidfeld, Vettel, Trulli and Bourdais. |
| 14:56:55
| They're pitting for a final set of tyres. Three minutes remain. |
| 14:57:38
| They're all heading back out for the final run. Kovalainen is on the provisional pole position at the moment. |
| 14:58:52
| Raikkonen starts his flying lap. The rest follow. |
| 14:59:28
| Raikkonen is on a hot lap and looking good. |
| 14:59:43
| Hamilton is also flying... |
| 15:00:03
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 15:00:22
| Raikkonen improves and is fastest. |
| 15:00:36
| Hamilton moves fastest from Raikkonen and Kovalainen. |
| 15:00:50
| Massa stays third. |
| 15:01:00
| Alonso moves fourth. |
| 15:01:25
| Kovalainen runs too deep into turn 14 and stays fifth. |
| 15:02:37
| So pole position for Lewis Hamilton ahead of Raikkonen, Massa, Alonso, Kovalainen and Webber who will take a ten position penalty. Heidfeld is seventh ahead of Vettel, Trulli and Bourdais. |
