Welcome back to ESPN's live commentary from the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. After rain during the final practice session it's definitely going to be a damp start to qualifying, which in the past has often been a great equaliser. However, so confident is Mercedes in its W05 that it didn't even set a timed lap in FP3.

Ricciardo was quickest in FP3 and has looked good all weekend but there' not a huge amount we can draw from that ahead of qualifying as the conditions are still changing.

The kerbs will be especially slippery here because of the wet weather. There are a number of areas on this track where drivers like to run wide, so it will be interesting to see who pushes the limits and who doesn't with these torquey engines.

Maldonado will not be taking part in this session. His Lotus is in pieces in the garage so no chance of him making Q1.

The conditions are still pretty bad out there. The question will be whether the cars go out on intermediates or full wets for Q1.

The two Marussias are queuing at the end of the pit lane and are both on full wets

It's an 18 minute session, but the teams will be keen to take advantage early on in case the track gets worse.

Ericsson has gone out on intermediates to match the green bodywork of his Caterham.

Gutierrez has taken the more cautious approach of fitting wets.

Magnussen leaves the garage in the McLaren on wet tyres.

Kobayahsi is on intermediates too and has already got past one of the Marussias.

Vergne is also out on inters, looks like everybody else has gone for wets. Vergne is on used inters.

I spoke to soon about Kobayashi as he runs wide on the final corner of his outlap.

Ricciardo wants to stick with his extreme wets as his team radios him to ask about the track condition.

Lots of spray already hanging in the air on the back straight. How they manage to see in these conditions is remarkable.

Kobayashi is a long way off the pace on inters, Ericsson is faster than the Marussias on full wets but had a big slide in the final sector that he did well to catch.

It's happening to the best of them as Raikkonen also loses the rear of his Ferrari as he manhandles it into Turn 2,

Rosberg is now fastest on a 1:56.351, Hamilton is on a 1:57.477.

Alonso pops up to second fastest on a 1:57.030.

Kobayashi is now picking up the pace on the inters, and is currently ahead of the cut in 15th.

Hamilton goes second, 0.099s off Rosberg. It's going to be close between those two whatever the weather.

Ricciardo says "traction is very poor with this tyre" and he's on the full wets. Nasty conditions out there, but traction is also about diff settings and set-up within the car, so maybe his Red Bull is not quite in the sweet spot.

Kobayashi has now dropped to 18th and is not improving on this lap. It may be time to swap to full wets.

Vergne is back in the pits to exhchange his new inters for full wets. He's currently 15th.

Vettel is up to third and just a couple of tenths off Rosberg's best lap.

Ricciardo is a further tenth off his Red Bull team-mate.

Alonso locks up his rears under braking and runs wide at the Turn 14 hairpin.

At the moment Gutierrez, the Marussias and Caterhams are set to drop out in this session. None of them are improving at the moment.

In case you've just joined us, Maldonado will not take part in this session after a technical issue in FP3 sidelined his Lotus for qualifying.

More drivers gambling on inters now. Vergne, Sutil, Gutierrez, the Marussias and Caterhams are all on fresh sets of inters.

Bianchi runs wide on the final corner after improving throughout the lap. That could have got him above the cut without that mistake.

Gutierrez moves out of the bottom six and drops his team-mate Sutil in it.

Sutil is on a better lap though...

And Sutil moves up to 11th on the inters, dropping Vergne back down there. But the Toro Rosso man still has time to react.

Bottas and Hulkenberg have also gone out on inters.

Raikkonen is still out on wets with a lot of the cars around him in the standings on inters.

Raikkonen is on a better lap nonetheless.

Gutierrez is back in the drop zone but on a better lap.

Grosjean is on full wets but also improving at the moment in 15th place.

Gutierrez runs wide in the final corner and will drop out with the Marussias and Caterhams.

Grosjean fails to improve, so Gutierrez could have got himself out of Q1 with a clean lap. Hulkenberg managed to go second fastest with the inters in his Force India.

So, Gutierrez, Kobayashi, Bianchi, Ericsson, Chilton and Maldonado drop out in Q1. Maldonado didn't turn a wheel in that session, in fact he didn't even have an engine fitted as Lotus discovered a problem on his car in FP3.

Hulkenberg on the inters was faster than Hamilton on the wets in the first and third sectors but lost time in the middle sector.

The pit lane is open for Q2 but the drivers are staying put for now.

Sutil breaks the silence and heads out on intermediates in his Sauber.

Alonso has also gone for inters. He spins his tyres up as he exits the polished floor of the garage.

Inters for all the cars on track at the moment. Hamilton and Rosberg have gone for used inters, Alonso and Raikkonen has opted for a fresh set.

Alonso battles understeer all the way through Turn 1 as he hangs his Ferrari around the outside and just gets it turned in for the apex of Turn 2. He then understeers again through Turn 3.

The F14 T looks like its struggling for front end grip but Alonso is being very careful with the accelerator to stop the rear of the Ferrari stepping out.

Alonso's hard work is paying off as he is told his second and third sectors are in line with Mercedes.

Hamilton is fastest though with a 1:54.200, a long way ahead of Rosberg 1.413s off. Ricciardo sets a time 1.510s off the lead Mercedes to go third.

So the used inters on the Mercedes are still in good enough shape to offer up decent lap times. Remember there are just four sets of inters to last each driver for the whole weekend.

Alonso runs too wide on his latest attempt at Turn 1. Maybe there is tad too much understeer built into the Ferrari's set-up.

Perez returns to the garage after running wide on his last lap. He is 15th and will be keen to throw some new tyres at the car and get back out.

Hamilton is still a second clear of his team-mate despite an improvement for Rosberg. That was a very impressive lap.

Vettel also runs wide at Turn 1, it's such a tricky corner in the wet because of the tightening radius as you head into Turn 2.

New intermediates on the two Mercedes now. Lets see if the fresh rubber allows those two to extend their lead at the front.

New inters for all the drivers apart from Ricciardo, who is currently fourth.

Vettel has used his fresh inters to up his pace. He's set the fastest middle sector and final sector to get within 0.3s of Hamilton.

The cars are backing up into the final corner as they try to find space for a quick lap.

Magnussen, Sutil, Vergne, Hulkenberg, Massa and Perez all need to improve on these final attempts.

Grosjean moves up to sixth. Impressive considering the Lotus looks like a dog to drive even when it's dry.

Button can't go quicker than 11th but will get another shot at it.

Massa improves to ninth and will have another shot at it. Raikkonen is now in the drop zone.

Raikkonen has improved in sector one, but it's not the best time.

Button improves in sector two but is slower than Raikkonen at the moment.

Hulkenberg remains tenth but may be knocked out still.

Button doesn't improve.

Raikkonen fails to make Q3 by 0.013s to Hulkenberg.

Grosjean makes Q3 in 7th, a fantastic lap from him.

Both McLarens drop out in Q3 as both Williamses go through despite that car struggling in the wet so far this year.

Button comes on the radio saying the front tyres were "juddering" as he tried to get the front of his McLaren turned in. He puts the issue down to difficulties getting tyre temperature in the two front Pirellis.

It looks like Vettel will give at least one of the Mercedes a run for their money in Q3.

Force India tells Hulkenberg that the rain intensified towards the end of the session, meaning the likes of Raikkonen were not able to improve. But it was the lap before his final one that Raikkonen failed to nail and as a result he will start from 11th on the grid tomorrow.

Vettel is the first to head out in Q3. He opts for a fresh set of intermediates as the rain continues to come down.

Bottas has gone for full wets as has Vergne.

Hulkenberg has also gone for full wets after he failed to improve on inters at the end of Q2.

Massa also on full wets. The two Mercedes, two Red Bulls, Alonso and Grosjean have gone for inters.

Vettel is the fastest man through sector one so far.

Hamilton improves on Vettel's time in sector one by less than a tenth.

Vettel is on a quicker lap than Rosberg, however.

And Hamilton is slower than Vettel in the middle sector, he needs to find more time in the final sector.

Vettel sets a 1:54.981, Rosberg is two tenths off that.

Ricciardo goes third fastest.

Hamilton does find that time in the final sector with a 1:54.348. Great lap from the Mercedes driver to take provisional pole.

The inters appear to be the right tyre to be on, with the top six all on a fresh set rather than the wets on Bottas, Vergne and Hulkenberg.

New inters for Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg and Ricciardo. Hulkenberg has changed to intermediates too.

Alonso is the last man to head back out on a fresh set of intermediates.

Hamilton told Turn 7 is the only corner where he is losing speed to Rosberg.

Rosberg has set a new fastest first sector.

Hamilton goes quicker again, 0.1s quicker than Rosberg's effort in sector one

Rosberg was quicker than Hamilton in sector two but ran wide in the hairpin.

Rosberg will get one more shot at it in his Mercedes.

Ricciardo goes second fastest as Hamilton extends his advantage to a second over the rest of the field.

Alonso is on a personal best as he tries to improve on seventh place.

Ricciardo is fastest in the second sector. That Red Bull is sticking well in the high-speed turns in sector two.

Rosberg has spun coming out of the final corner.

Ricciardo improves and stays on the front row for tomorrow's grid.

Rosberg ran wide and spun up the rears on the exit of the final corner. He is fourth on the grid with both Red Bulls ahead of him.

Hamilton shows the rest how it's done with a lap 0.5s clear of Ricciardo in second.

Alonso does well to take fifth. Massa and Bottas take sixth and seventh in the Williamses.

A brilliant Q3 session in the wet as Ricciardo once again proves that he can be a match for Vettel this season.

Thanks for joining us for the session. Make sure you check back later for all the reaction from teams and drivers to today's qualifying, plus hopes and expectations for tomorrow's race.