Valtteri Bottas grabs pole position in Mercedes one-two in China!

Valtteri Bottas will start on pole position on Sunday, as Mercedes completed a front-row lockout ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton looked set to claim his seventh pole position at the Shanghai International Circuit, but an incredible last lap from Bottas right at the end of Q3 secured his maiden pole position in China, beating the world champion by 0.023s.

Sebastian Vettel could only manage third-place, with his team-mate Charles Leclerc not too far behind the German. Ferrari looked at one stage as if they'd really challenge Mercedes for the pole spot, but the Silver Arrows were a tad too quick.

The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly claimed P5 and P6, respectively. Daniel Ricciardo and his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg managed seventh and eighth.

Haas managed to get both of its cars into Q3, but Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean could manage P9 and P10, respectively.

Q1

Alexander Albon of Toro Rosso suffered a huge crash in FP3, which kept him out of the whole of the qualifying session. Antonio Giovinazzi, like Albon, couldn't get out on track for the first session. Predictably, the Williams of George Russell and Robert Kubica couldn't make it out of the first qualifying session.

Leclerc took a while to come out in Q1, perhaps Ferrari weren't too keen to send him out. But the Monegasque driver came out with a couple of minutes remaining. Leclerc managed to get up to P2, just behind Bottas - who topped the timesheet in Q1.

Lance Stroll made it seven eliminations in a row, after failing to get his Racing Point car out of Q1.

Eliminated

16. L. Stroll

17. R. Kubica 

18. G. Russell

19. A. Giovinazzi

20. A. Albon 

Q2

Bottas started Q2 quicker than his Mercedes team-mate, Hamilton, but the five-time world champion came in right at the death to record the fastest time on the grid. The two Ferraris could only manage P3 and P4, with Bottas finishing behind his team-mate.

Hulkenberg and Ricciardo were in 10th and ninth respectively, but both Renault drivers were in the danger zone of being eliminated from the second qualifying stint, but just about managed to record a top 10 finish.

Grosjean had to stay in the pits for a while, due to a slight issue with his Haas, confirmed by team boss Guenther Steiner. But the Frenchman did get out on track and managed to get ninth and move into Q3.

Gasly moved into Q3 for the first time this season, and the first time in a Red Bull Racing car. But that was at the expense of Kimi Raikkonen, who failed to reach the third qualifying stint for the first time since 2016.

Eliminated

11. D. Kvyat

12. S. Perez

13. K. Raikkonen

14. C. Sainz

15. L. Norris

Q3

Hamilton looked as if he'd just beat his team-mate, going quicker in the first sector, but Bottas recovered well and claimed a first pole position in China. 

BREAKING: @ValtteriBottas takes pole in China, edging out team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.023s #Race1000 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/XXQbAttK1h

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 April 2019