Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix after setting a stunning lap in the final stages of qualifying, a time of 1:31.678 which is the fastest ever time recorded at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Sebastian Vettel will line up from second on the grid, as he was just under two-tenths of a second slower than the Brit. He was only one thousand of a second faster than Valtteri Bottas, pipping him to the front row.

Kimi Raikkonen will line up on the grid fourth, while Daniel Ricciardo finished the session in fifth.

Q1 - Verstappen out, Giovinazzi crashes

There was no immediate rush to get out on track but soon, Antonio Giovinazzi, Marcus Ericsson and Lance Stroll emerged from the garage to set some laps in. Stroll set the fastest lap from the group of three, with Giovinazzi ahead of Ericsson.

Soon, more drivers began to leave the garage and the top of timesheet consistently changed, with Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Hamilton all taking turns in P1 before Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time on the soft compound.

Romain Grosjean spun at the final corner, but managed to avoid the barrier and went on his way again. Verstappen reported a motor issue and failed to set a competitive lap time, adding to the woes at Red Bull. 

The chequered flag came out and the first man who looked set to take it was Antonio Giovinazzi before the Italian spun at the final corner and slammed into the barrier, bringing heavy damage onto the Sauber. Ironically, Giovinazzi's crash meant nobody could improve and he was through to Q2, however, he could not take part due to the damage sustained to the car.

Drivers out after Q1: Vandoorne, Grosjean, Palmer, Verstappen & Ocon

Q2 - Ferrari go first and second

Stroll was the first to emerge from the garage, with the two Ferrari's getting out on the super soft tyres. Vettel set the fastest time, a 1:32.391, ahead of Hamilton by the smallest of margins. Bottas was one and a half tenths away from Vettel with Raikkonen just over two-tenths slower.

The cars then came out for their second run, with many looking to improve. Hulkenberg jumped from the drop zone and went to sixth, while Kvyat settled in eighth. Magnussen failed to improve and was declared out of the session.

Vettel and Raikkonen then came out again to set new laps despite being safe. Vettel failed to improve, however, Raikkonen jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:32.181.

Drivers out after Q2: Sainz, Magnussen, Alonso, Ericsson & Giovinazzi 

Q3 - Hamilton takes pole 

Hulkenberg was the first to set a lap in Q3, a 1:33.580 but he was quickly displaced by Hamilton who set a lap time of 1:31.902.  Vettel's time was two-tenths down on Hamilton as Bottas slotted into third with Raikkonen sitting fourth.

The drivers came out again for their second flying laps, and Hamilton improved his time by two-tenths of a second which couldn't be matched. Raikkonen failed to move off fourth while Bottas temporarily moved onto the front row, before being displaced by Vettel. 

Ricciardo lines up fifth, with Williams' Felipe Massa sixth. Hulkenberg will start seventh followed by Perez in eighth. Rounding out the top ten was Daniil Kvyat and Lance Stroll.

Fergal Walsh