Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix.

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14:02: Lots of weaving around on the formation lap. Hamilton lines up on pole position... Start coming up shortly...

Palmer pits for slicks.

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14:00: Hamilton leads away the formation lap. Driver feedback will be crucial on this one, to gauge how dry the track is, as the guys on the pit wall frantically crunch the numbers of their strategy.

The track looks dry... Sainz could have pulled a blinder here.

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13:59: Well then. EVERYONE on intermediates... except Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz, on super-soft slick tyres. That's a huge gamble from the Spaniard. He won't be getting away very slowly but, if this track dries out quickly, he could be in the pound seats.

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13:58: A packed grandstand overlooking the pit lane, which is always good to see.

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13:55: The track is drying very quickly, so I think some of them will be considering starting this race on slick tyres. We won't know until the tyres blankets come off the cars in a moment.

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13:54: It was here last year things started to unravel for Ferrari a little bit, with Vettel hitting teammate Raikkonen at Turn 1 -- something he felt was caused by Kvyat's "torpedo" down the inside. The team looks in better shape this time around and I wouldn't be surprised if a red car is leading at the end of lap 1.

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13:52: Damp conditions always bring in teams lower down the order, so the likes of McLaren will be hoping there is some mid-race rain.

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13:50: 20 percent of rain today, according to race control. Certainly a lot less than the forecasts were suggesting this week - but with rain in the air it's always unpredictable.

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13:47: The national anthem is sung and Perez scurries to his slow on the red carpet a little bit late.

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13:45: The drivers are walking to the front of the grid for the Chinese national anthem, which has become a pre-race tradition in recent seasons.

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13:43: Stoffel Vandoorne tells Sky he thinks the track is almost ready for slicks. Could be some interesting calls to be made. Hamilton has come to the grid on slick tyres, super-softs for the three-time world champion for his lap to the grid.

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13:41: This race will be the first meaningful running the teams gain on Pirelli's wet compounds. Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes tested those compounds last year.

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13:40: Niki Lauda tells Sky Sports he is worried Ferrari will benefit in damp conditions due to the increased levels of downforce in a wet set-up.

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13:36: Excitement building ahead of the race. The wet element throws another unknown into the Ferrari-Mercedes fight. In the dry, I backed Mercedes to win here given recent form - the damp element muddies the water slightly.

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13:34: Replays show Hamilton running deep at the penultimate corner and over the kerbs. Conditions very tricky on cold tyres - getting heat into them on the formation lap is going to be absolutely essential.

13:32: Some of the practice starts on the pit lane exit showing a lot of wheelspin, hardly surprising in these conditions. Not the worst conditions for launches, of course, but expect slow getaways from the grid.

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<13:30: Pit lane open - we're ready to go. It's intermediate and wet tyres for the drive to the grid, the track is damp but there's a real choice to be made which compound to search on.

Lap 1

Great start from Hamilton and he leads into Turn 1... Bottas gets alongside the slowstarting Vettel into the opening corner but the Ferrari holds firm. Ricciardo gets ahead of Raikkonen.

Sainz struggling on the slick tyres, her's dropped to 19th.

Stroll has gone off!

Lap 2

Vettel out of investigation for being out of position on the grid - he was well out of his box before lights out and unfortunately he could be in a spot of bother.

Hulkenberg pits for soft tyres.

Verstappen is up to seventh already!

VIrtual Safety Car deployed for Stroll's clash, which we haven't seen a replay of yet.

Stroll complaining he got hit. The onboard shows him flying out at Turn 11. Looks like he turned in across Perez .

Lap 3

Lots of pit stops, Vettel comes in for soft tyres. Hamilton and Bottas stays out.

Palmer, on the super-softs, spins at Turn 1. Still under Virtual Safety Car conditions at the moment. It doesn't look like slicks are the right call.... right now.

Hulkenberg tells Renault he's losing all temperature in his tyres going so slowly for VSC. That's going to hurt all the guys on the slick compounds.

Lap 4

Hamilton stays out as VSC period ends. Vettel, on those soft tyres, is down in sixth and we'll be keeping a close eye on his lap times. Verstappen, who started 17th, is up IN FIFTH!!! That kid can drive.

Safety car deployed! Giovinazzi has put the car in the wall at the start-finish straight. This will play nicely into the hands of the guys who took on the soft tyres.

There's a lot of debris on the track to clear up.

Looks like Giovinazzi lost the car coming down the pit-straight.

Lap 5

The leaders have pitted. Hamilton takes on soft tyres. Ricciardo, according to the data. Hamilton has emerged in the lead, in front of Ricciardo. Bottas has dropped from second to fifth - he had to be double stacked behind Hamilton and he's dropped behind Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Verstappen.

Great radio exchange at McLaren: "Remember to drink, Fernando." "I don't need a f----- drink!"

Lap 6

The cars come through the pit lane as they clear away the debris from Giovinazzi's wrecked Sauber.

Lap 7

Great replay of Verstappen's opening lap - the kid is in another league when the track is damp. He's just easing by people like they aren't there.

Sainz had a terrible first lap but is up in eighth, albeit on tyres he started the race with.

Safety car is still out.

The Stroll-Perez collision is under investigation.

No further action taken on Vettel for being out of his grid box.

Safety car IN this lap. Lots of drivers complaining about a lack of temperature in their tyres.

Bottas has spun at Turn 11! He's dropped down to 12th position, that shows you how tough it is to get heat into these tyres at this speed.

Lap 8

Hamilton leads away. Lots of twitching as the cars filter through the final corner.

Lovely work from Perez! He goes deep down the inside at Turn 1 to pass Massa, runs deep into the corner, undercuts the Williams and then passes Kvyat for good measure.

Verstappen flies around the outside of Raikkonen!

"I don't know what happened with my engine!" Raikkonen complains.

Lap 9

Raikkonen now has teammate Vettel all over his gearbox. Ferrari will be biting their fingernails on the pit wall... this race isn't quite unfolding the way they would have expected.

Raikkonen runs a little wide at Turn 1.

No further action on Perez and Stroll.

Hamilton not shaking the two super-soft tyred Red Bulls behind him at the moment. Ferraris both closing up to the Red Bulls in front as well. This is shaping up into one hell of a race...

Lap 10

Hamilton's lead over Ricciardo is 1.6s at the start of the tenth lap. Hamilton being told he can go to the end of the race on these tyres, and that the Red Bulls probably can't. Very interesting, especially as the Ferraris behind also have soft tyres.

Fastest lap from Carlos Sainz.

FOM feed rides on board with Sainz, whos all over the back of Kvyat in the battle for tenth.

This is quite brilliant - the top five are all in the same TV shot coming down the backstraight.

Raikkonen runs wide at the penultimate corner but holds on to fourth position.

Lap 11

Verstappen has closed up right behind Ricciardo. He passes his teammate at turn 6, he's now second. The teenager is absolutely flying. What a drive!

Now Hamilton and Verstappen, two people renowned as wet-weather warriors, leading. The gap currently 1.8s, so let's see if the Red Bull driver can cut any of that.

Sainz and Alonso sitting very nicely in sixth and seventh.

As the track dries out we will start to see how Red Bull competes on those super-soft tyres, but I don't know whether they can go to the end.

Lap 12

Ricciardo really struggling on those super-soft tyres. Raikkonen is now all over the back of his gearbox.

Lap 13

Fastest lap from Hamilton, a 1:39.358. Verstappen was just 0.017s slower on his lap though.

Lap 14

Verstappen now 1.6s behind Hamilton. Ricciardo going really slowly - he's five seconds off the lead and this is really starting to compromise Ferrari's race. If you're Verstappen, this is all working out perfectly. If he has a big gap to the Ferrari drivers later in the race, he will fancy a pit stop for fresh rubber.

Alonso told Sainz is quickest on track currently, cheekily replies: "But I'm the quickest in the corners!"

Lap 15

Raikkonen and Vettel starting to get a bit tasty as well.

A few drivers under investigation for passing under the VSC.

Bottas sets a fastest lap in the other Mercedes, a 1:39.117.

"Struggling with understeer for now," Ricciardo tells Red Bull.

Verstappen now 2.4s down on Hamilton, who looks pretty comfortable out in front. Ricciardo four seconds behind his teammate.

Lap 16

I don't think Horner would have believed his drivers would be running second and third if you'd told him before the race. Quite a remarkable turn of events so far. Raikkonen and Vettel unable to get close enough even with DRS - is this starting to confirm suspicions overtaking will be pretty bad this year?

"What the hell is happening on the exit of 12!?" Raikkonen asks Ferrari, saying he's not getting any deployment at that part of the circuit.

Five-second penalty for Hulkenberg.

Lap 17

Hamilton's lead now 3 seconds.

Ferrari still unable to get close enough to pass Ricciardo.

Bad day for Hulkenberg - 10 seconds for overtaking under Safety Car, to go with five he received for passing under the Virtual Safety Car.

Lap 18

Vettel is so close to the back of his teammate now. Unless he fancies a late lunge late in the braking zone or Raikkonen is feeling rather charitable, he's going to have a job on his hands to get by.

Magnussen under investigation for driving unnecessarily slowly.

Vandoorne is told his Honda engine has a fuel problem and that he needs to back off. He's down in 18th.

Lap 19

Sainz doing a lovely job in sixth, he's chipping away at the gap to Vettel, which is currently 3.9s.

Vandoorne retires in the pit lane. The other McLaren is currently seventh...

Replays show Bottas passing Magnussen down the inside of the penultimate corner, braking late and making the move stick as they powered out of the corner.

Lap 20

Kvyat has gone off on the circuit.

Vettel dives down the inside of Raikkonen at Turn 6. Tidy move and he gets it done - Raikkonen obviously didn't slam the door shut when he saw his teammate alongside him, but it didn't look like team orders. Nice move. Ricciardo the next man up.

Lap 21

"We can get to the end of the race on this tyre, right?" Hamilton asks Mercedes.

Vettel has come alive now he's passed Raikkonen and he's right up behind his former teammate in the struggling Red Bull.

Hamilton tells Mercedes he thinks he can go to the end on this set of soft tyres.

Worth pointing out- the fact this race started on the wet compounds means there are no rules about which race tyres needs to be used.

Lap 22

Vettel has a look around the outside of Ricciardo at Turn 1 and 2 but the Red Bull holds firm. He stays right behind the Red Bull and goes on the outside at Turn 6, and they touch wheels on the exit but Vettel makes the move stick! Lovely stuff from the world championship leader.

Lap 23

Hamilton sets another fastest lap, a 1:37.560. He's 5.2s up on Verstappen, who has a 4.5s gap to Vettel behind. The Ferrari driver looking very comfortable out there right now though. The Red Bulls starting to lose out in a big way on those super-soft tyres... but they'll have a chance to put some fresh boots on before the end of this race.

Lap 24

Vettel now sets a fastest lap - a 1:37.505. He's already pulled out a 2.7s gap on Ricciardo behind. Ricciardo now has Raikkonen all over the rear end of his Red Bull.

Replays show Perez, on fresher tyres, braking much, much later than Ocon to snatch 10th from his teammate at the penultimate corner.

Lap 25

Bottas in the other Mercedes is right on the rail of Alonso in seventh. I don't think Alonso has much chance in that fight, unfortunately..

Vettel now 2.7s behind Verstappen. He's flying.

Raikkonen asks if the soft tyres will really get to the end of the race, "because it doesn't feel like it!" The Ferrari drivers having very different afternoons currently.

Lap 26

Bottas flies past Alonso for seventh. That looked very, very easy. Alonso won't be a happy man in that car seeing that - that one came down to simple engine power.

"Bottas has some car damage.." Alonso tells McLaren.

Vettel getting closer and closer to Verstappen. He'll be in a position to make a pass soon - but Verstappen is a bit feistier than Ricciardo, isn't he..

Lap 27

Hamilton having a very comfortable race out in front at the moment, eight seconds up on Verstappen. His tyres should be in great shape, too, given that it doesn't seem like he's needed to push for a while.

Lap 28

Vettel nearly into DRS range of Verstappen.

Lovely move at Turn 6 - diving down the inside of the Renault and making the move stick. Love seeing so many passes happening outside of the DRS zone. The DRS is doing what it should be for in this race - keeping drivers close together so that moves are possible later in the lap, rather than just making an overtake an easy thing.

Lap 29

Verstappen has a huge lock up at the penultimate corner and Vettel eases past. That front left is in pieces. He'll need to pit soon.

"Max, do you need to box?"

He says no, but Red Bull are readying for another stop anyway. Fresh rubber might make things interesting for the Red Bull drivers now.

Vettel now in second, but Hamilton is a full 11 seconds down the road.

Lap 30

Verstappen's tyres are completely done and he pits for fresh tyres. Red Bull don't look ready for him, actually... they were very late out there with tyres. New super-soft tyres and he emerges behind Bottas' Mercedes, which is now fifth.

Lap 31

Ricciardo stays out.

Sainz has also taken some new soft tyres, that's why he's dropped behind Alonso. I don't think he'll be there much longer, he's 2.5s behind and has just set the fastest lap of the race.

"Tyres don't feel great," Hamilton tells Mercedes. Is there a late twist in this one? Verstappen is now flying on the super-soft tyres, that might just force these front-runners into a pit stop of their own.

Lap 32

Verstappen has set a 1:36.722. He's right up behind Bottas' Mercedes.

Lap 33

Just after that message, Hamilton sets a fastest lap! A 1:36.711. So he still seems pretty comfortable out there.

"The front is f---- struggling!" Raikkonen tells Ferrari.

Oh, another lovely pass at Turn 6 - this time Verstappen, lunging past Bottas on the inside, and making it stick on the drive out. I'm a big fan of these new cars. Drivers having to work for these overtakes at every opportunity - although, worth pointing out, Verstappen was on much fresher tyres, so had an obvious benefit in being able to brake a lot later.

Lap 34

Ricciardo pits, releasing Raikkonen into third.

Sainz and Alonso dice for position at the penultimate corner, gets ahead, Alonso battles back to stay ahead but runs wide, and Sainz makes the move stick. That puts Sainz into seventh.

Ricciardo has emerged in sixth, also behind Bottas but again with fresh tyres.

Oh man. Alonso has slowed right down. That's a sad end to a mega afternoon for the Spaniard, again let down by his power unit it seems.

Lap 35

Vettel pits for soft tyres, so expect Hamilton to follow him into the pits next time around. He had 12 seconds on the Ferrari driver.

Raikkonen has moved up to second but you would imagine he's about to get some fresh rubber as well. This is all in reaction to Verstappen's pace - and crucially Vettel has got out in front of the Red Bull driver.

Lap 36

Marc asks: "Any chance Vet can catch up Hamilton with 25 laps to go? Are Vet and Ham on same compounds? The fact Ham pitted a few laps later than Vet will this impact outcome in final stages of the race?"

Unlikely at this point. Hamilton likely to pit in a minute, but he'll be way ahead of Vettel when he emerges. Then it's just a drive to the finish, Vettel will likely be happy with second with how this race has unfolded.

Bottas pits, and Mercedes are now ready for Hamilton.

Lap 37

Hamilton pits for the second time this afternoon. New softs for the Mercedes driver, 3.2s pit stop, which is pretty mega.

Hamilton emerges well clear of the yet-to-pit-again Raikkonen. The crucial gap, the one to Vettel in third, is 11 seconds, almost exactly what it was before the pit stop.

Hamilton and Vettel are now on identical compounds, with Hamilton's much newer, so it will take something quite special for Vettel to win this one. The end of this is similar to Melbourne at this stage- in that one, Hamilton backed off late on knowing the gap was too big, and I imagine Vettel will do the same here.

Lap 38

Fastest lap from Vettel, a 1:36.393. Verstappen shouldn't be a problem for him in the remaining 18 laps this afternoon, the Red Bull driver is now 5.4s down the road.

The key now is that Raikkonen may emerge behind the Red Bulls, so he might have some overtaking to do if he does pit again.

Lap 39

Bottas, on the soft tyre, sets a 1:36.177 to show the Mercedes' pace on the soft tyre. This race has showed that Mercedes does seem to still have an edge on Ferrari in pace.

Raikkonen is pretty angry -- as angry as Raikkonen can be -- about why he hasn't been called in to pit. "Where the hell am I gonna finish!? Because there's 20 laps left and I have no front end."

He's got a reason to ask questions, people are pitting all around him and at this rate Sainz and Bottas are cutting the gap to him as well, which will be important for when he does pit.

Lap 40

Bottas flying on those softs, setting a 1:35.912. He's eight seconds behind Sainz.

Raikkonen finally pits for new super-soft tyres.

Magnussen sweeps past Ocon at the penultimate corner for ninth.

Lap 41

Vettel does a fastest lap now, a 1:35.423. He's 8.2s behind the Mercedes driver.

Raikkonen has emerged behind Sainz, so he's now sixth, but on new super-soft tyres, so I doubt he will be there for long.

Mercedes tells Hamilton Vettel is picking up the pace.

Lap 42

Hamilton has picked up thepace now, setting a fastest lap. Hamilton asking Mercedes how Vettel has cut four seconds out of his lead, which they put down to the under-cut and how the pit-stop window unfolded.

Lap 43

Another personal best lap from Hamilton.

Vettel still asking what he needs to do to catch Hamilton before the end - he is told he needs 0.7s a lap, which is rounded off with "I'm afraid", suggesting Ferrari doesn't thinks its doable with 12 laps to go. Hamilton has fresher soft tyres on. "Just keep it there," is the message to Vettel, reminding him there's a good points haul to be gained.

Lap 44

There's the pace of that Mercedes, Hamilton sets a 1:35.378. That's the 0.7s quicker than Vettel's last effort.

Bottas overtakes Sainz at the penultimate corner, Sainz using the dirty tarmac on the other side of the kerbs to give the Mercedes driver space.

The race for third is an interesting one now - Ricciardo two seconds behind teammate Verstappen and closing.

Lap 45

Vettel responds with a personal best - but he's still eight seconds down.

Lap 46

Ocon is now right on the tail of Massa in the battle for the final points-paying position of the afternoon. He's got 10 laps to get past the Williams man.

Lap 47

Ocon shows the benefit of fresher rubber again (He just took on super-softs) as he out-brakes Massa on the outside of the penultimate corner to move back into 10th.

Who's ready for another Verstappen-Ricciardo duel? Ricciardo is much closer.

Tony Ross, Rosberg's race engineer for his entire career, messages Bottas: "Fourth position is still possible here Nic.... erm.. Valtteri" Old habits die hard!

Lap 48

Verstappen-Ricciardo at Malaysia last year was one of the highlights of the 2016 season. Thrilling and fair. Let's see if we get treated to something similar this afternoon. This is squeaky bum time on the Red Bull pit wall, they've got a very unlikely podium on the cards here.

Lap 49

Raikkonen is told the Red Bulls, 10 seconds up the road, are encountering blue flags and struggling with their fronts. Seems like a very big ask for him to catch them. Bottas is also starting to cut the gap to Raikkonen.

Magnussen sweeps one way and then the other as he passes Perez in the DRS zone.

Lap 50

The Renault's have had a rotten afternoon. Hulkenberg, who started seventh, running down in 13th currently.

Ricciardo now into DRS range of Verstappen.

Lap 51

Wow. Replays show a lovely move from Grosjean, sweeping around the Massa through the first sequence of corners. Massa has now pitted for fresh tyres.

Lap 52

Verstappen asking Red Bull to make sure Grosjean gets out of the way for the blue flags because he normally doesn't move over. Grosjean doesn't look close enough for blue flags, but Verstappen clearly already feeling the turbulent air.

Ricciardo 0.5s behind his teammate. The Australian had a tough race earlier on and he'd love to finish ahead of his teammate.

Verstappen still telling Red Bull he's struggling in the turbulant air of Grosjean, but he's told he won't be blue-flagged until he's within one second. Which is fair, you can't expect these guys to jump out of the way whenever a car on the lead lap comes near to them.

Lap 53

Blue flags for Grosjean now.

"It's ridiculous mate, I'm losing grip!" Verstappen tells Red Bull. This showing how that distance of turbulent air has increased with these new cars.

Lap 54

Ricciardo could probably reach out and tap his teammate's car on the rear wing.... maybe not, but he's very close.

Grosjean getting blue flags but he's still a way down the circuit, I don't know what Grosjean can really do there other than just completely lift the throttle.

Lap 55

We haven't heard any complaints from Ricciardo, who is also sat in turbulent air of his teammate. Verstappen still showing a bit of the teenager in him...

They start the penultimate lap with a 0.5s gap.

Lap 56

Hamilton starts the final lap of the race.

All the FOM feed is showing is the Verstappen-Ricciardo fight. Raikkonen has closed up on it, he'll be asking serious questions about Ferrari's strategy this evening as he really should have closed out the podium places.

Ricciardo right on the tail of his teammate through Turn 1!

Verstappen locks up at Turn 6 and very nearly loses the position to Ricciardo! They are briefly alongside each other but the Dutchman powers out of the corner.

Hamilton wins the Chinese Grand Prix

It's all square at the top of the championship - Hamilton and Vettellevel on points.

At the penultimate corner Ricciardo thinks about a lunge on the inside but thinks about it, Verstappen moves to cover the inside and Ricciardo locks up and runs deep.

"Get in there Lewis! Absolute masterclass," Bonnington tells Hamilton. It was a super drive out in front - but no question in mind at the driver of the day. Verstappen for a thrilling start in wet conditions and a well-deserved podium.