Lewis Hamilton took his second consecutive victory to seize the world championship lead after a perfect performance in winning the Chinese Grand Prix.
In what was Formula One's 1,000th race in history, Hamilton beat Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas off the line into turn one, and never looked back. Behind, Bottas was able to hold off the Ferraris with ease, given their intra-team battle that threatens to boil over. Ferrari used early team orders to release Sebastian Vettel, gifting him third place but infuriating Charles Leclerc.
And subsequently, Leclerc lost fourth place to Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with the fallout from Ferrari's decision set to rumble on to the next race in Baku. Re-live the live updates below.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's Chinese Grand Prix, the third round of the 2019 F1 season.
PITS OPEN
The pit lane explodes into live 35 minutes before lights out as the drivers get the green light to begin their installation laps. The Mercedes' and Red Bulls are quick out the box with Ferrari a little behind, but so far no dramas ahead of the 1,000th Grand Prix in Formula One.
QUALIFYING RECAP
It was a throwback to the opening race of the season on Saturday in China as Valtteri Bottas returned to the front of the pack, and too a much-deserved pole position. The Finn has been well on the pace all weekend, leading the Mercedes challenge, but the interesting thing is that Hamilton kept tinkering with his set-up to improve his handling throughout qualifying - and seemed to find something as he nearly beat his teammate to top spot.
Ferrari were left to fill the second row, but they cannot be ruled out here as both Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc found some one-lap pace towards the end of Q3 and just missed out on challenging for the front row. The joker in the pack could well be Max Verstappen though, whose qualifying session went a little worse than planned...
Verstappen didn't really have much to argue - but he did anyway. The young Dutchman placed his Red Bull in fourth between the two Ferraris after the opening run of Q3, but as everyone was slow out the pits for their second and final run, it quickly became apparent that some of the top 10 were not going to make the line in time to start their final flying lap.
No one saw this better than Vettel, who passed a slow-moving Verstappen around the outside of the hairpin and just crossed the line in time to set a lap. So too did the two Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg, leaving both Verstappen and Pierre Gasly in each other's way and seeing the lights turn red before they crossed the line.
If it was a mistake for Red Bull, it was amateur hour at Haas, as both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen failed to get out in time - despite not having a first run and having all the time in the world to get their timing right.
Needless to say, Verstappen was not impressed.
Start grid
1 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1min 31.547secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:31.570
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:31.848
4 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:31.865
5 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:32.089
6 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull 1:32.930
7 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:32.958
8 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:32.962
9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 No time set
10 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 No time set
11 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:33.236
12 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:33.299
13 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:33.41
14 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:33.523
15 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:33.967
16 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:34.292
17 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:35.253
18 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:35.281
19 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing No time set
20 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso No time set
Esteban Ocon, the supremely talented young driver that was unlikely to miss out on the grid this year, believes it's almost impossible for the field to one-stop today, such is the wear on the tyres in China.
His prediction? The Mercedes reserve driver is going for Lewis Hamilton.
With the national anthem done and dusted, the drivers head to their cars and engines are fired up for the final time. Little over 10 minutes until we get underway...
Daniel Ricciardo has been taking some rather unusual advice from David Coulthard ahead of lights out...
Liberty Media have allowed drivers to change their helmets for the 1,000th Grand Prix, and there are some beauties out there today. Williams may be at the back of the field this year, but George Russell has rolled back the years with a Juan Pablo Montoya-themed helmet that blends with his own design. For me, it's the clear winner.
Daniel Ricciardo meanwhile has paid tribute to the late Jack Brabham, the Australian racing hero, with an all-silver design that really is a throwback to the 1950s and 60s.
Just five minutes until lights out and the main F1 feed plays out a spine-tingling montage of the 69-year and 1,000-race history of Formula One.
A wonderful walk down memory lane brings up Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Prost, Senna and Schumacher.
But today it could be about two, three, four and even five drivers, as Bottas, Hamilton, Vettel, Leclerc and Verstappen all harbour genuine hopes today.
Strategy-wise. we're expecting plenty of different options as drivers head into the cooler conditions fairly uncertain on what will work and what won't, so we'll have to keep an eye on who's on what as they emerge from two - maybe even three - pit stops.
Warm-up lap underway!
Verstappen spins! The Red Bull goes round on the warm-up lap! He's kept it going though and is back in position.
And now Kubica goes around too!
Finally, Bottas brings the field round to the grid, and thankfully there are 20 cars in the right order as Kubica also got going again. Here we go...
LIGHTS OUT! THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX IS UNDERWAY!
Lap 1: It's a whopping start from Hamilton and he leads Botas into the first corner! Bottas follows suit, with Leclerc getting ahead of teammate Vettel for third! Verstappen leads the Red Bull challenge ahead of Gasly and it's two by two by two.
But there's drama behind! Coming out of the turn five hairpin, Kvyat gets into the McLaren of Sainz, and it pings the Toro Rosso left and straight into the other McLaren of Norris. Disaster for McLaren, and their both to the back of the field.
Virtual safety car!
Lap 2: The VSC is completed within half a lap as the track is cleared of debris, and all three cars involved in the crash are still running. Kvyat didn't even need to pit and runs 16th, but McLaren had to stack both Sainz and Norris and eventually sent both back out on their way.
Lap 3: Hamilton is concerned with his left-front after hitting debris, and as the first man along he essentially became the roadsweeper through the second sector. He's got a healthy hap of 1.4s as DRS is activated, and his pace is looking ok for now.
"Everything looks OK Lewis," comes the radio reply.
Lap 6: The front five have settled down and, separated by 7.3s, have pulled a healthy gap away from Gasly. Behind, Kvyat is still providing the best action out there as he tries an ambitious move around the outside of Stroll into the Turn 6 hairpin, but he's pushed out wide and remains in 14th. There's worse news to follow as the stewards hand the Toro Rosso driver a drive-through penalty for causing that collision with the McLarens.
What time does it start?
The Chinese Grand Prix begins at 7:10am BST on Sunday 14 April.
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Highlights will be shown on Channel 4 from 3pm.
Starting grid
1 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1min 31.547secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:31.570
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:31.848
4 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:31.865
5 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:32.089
6 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull 1:32.930
7 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:32.958
8 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:32.962
9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 No time set
10 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 No time set
11 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:33.236
12 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:33.299
13 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:33.419
14 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:33.523
15 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:33.967
16 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:34.292
17 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:35.253
18 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:35.281
19 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing No time set
20 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso No time set
