FORMULA 1 Live

56/56 Final lap!! All Lewis Hamilton has to do is nurse it round to take a huge step towards the world championship!

55/56 Two laps to go and Lewis Hamilton could probably walk it from here. Well, maybe jog.

54/56 Fernando Alonso continues to make inroads on Raikkonen, but it doesn't look like he'll be able to get the measure of him. He's still four seconds away.

53/56 Alonso is taking stacks of time out of Kimi Raikkonen - he is about five seconds back four laps remaining. It looks like the Ferrari man will have to pick things up to see off the Spaniard.

52/56 And Heikki Kovalainen retires! He has a problem with his brakes, McLaren say, and with a points finish looking unlikely he calls it a day.

51/56 Nervy, nervy, nervy. Hamilton continues to plough on into his final few laps. He's looking good. Gulp.

50/56 There it is... Felipe Massa sweeps easily past Kimi Raikkonen and into second place. That gains him an extra couple of championship points.

49/56 Massa closes to within a second of Raikkonen, and he will surely get past him in a minute. They are leaving it a bit late..

48/56 There is a good ding-dong for fifth place brewing with Robert Kubica closing in on Nick Heidfeld. This hasn't been a classic, by any means. In fact, nothing has happened. But Lewis Hamilton will want to keep it that way.

46/56 There is plenty of debris and crumbs of rubber on the track, so it is not quite a case of sticking the car in auto-pilot and cruising home.

45/56 If Hamilton wins and if Massa comes through to second place, the gap in the drivers' standings would be seven points. That would mean Hamilton could guarantee the world title in Brazil by finishing fifth, even if Massa won his home race.

44/56 How they stand: 1-Hamilton, 2-Raikkonen +13.2, 3-Massa +15.1, 4-Alonso +26.7, 5-Heidfeld +35.7, 6-Kubica +43.2, 7-Glock +49.4, 8-Piquet +58.5.

43/56 Massa is a shade over two seconds behind his team-mate. Who knows whether Raikkonen is genuinely slowing down or just letting Massa past. It hardly matters - Massa is certain to get through here.

41/56 Lewis Hamilton's lead is up to 12 seconds, and he can surely afford to ease off and save his engine for Brazil, where both Ferraris will have a new one.

40/56 Massa has started to reel in Raikkonen - funny that - and will surely overtake his Ferrari colleague before too long. Raikkonen can also do a job protecting him from the attention of Robert Kubica.

39/56 Hamilton pits! In and out! 6.8 seconds, and he is away! Raikkonen pits at the same time and gets out just in front of the dreaded Fisichella..

38/56 Massa pits! He stops for 7.5 seconds - and Raikkonen has had a shocker of a lap, losing a second and seeing Hamilton's lead extended to 8.9 seconds.

38/56 Lewis Hamilton's lead is coming down. He is giving away around three tenths a lap to Raikkonen and two thirds of a second to Massa.

37/56 Kovalainen makes it to the pits and gets his wrecked tyre changed... he returns to the track but has lost several places. He's down to 11th.

36/36 Puncture! Puncture for Heikki Kovalainen!! He was about to go into the pits when his right front tyre went pop. Crikey...

35/56 Alonso gets past Fisichella without drama, and his pit crew tell him to get a move on if he wants to stay in front of Kovalainen.

34/56 Giancarlo Fisichella strikes again! This time he gets in Massa's way and costs the Brazilian a second. Massa 15.8 seconds behind the leader.

33/56 Nakajima and Webber pit in formation. They have both opted for a two-stop strategy instead of three.

32/56 Massa sets a 1:37.0. Good pace from the Brazilian but it is too late in terms of gaining a race win.

31/56 Further down the pack, Sebastian Vettel finds himself in the unfortunate position of being harrassed by Kazuki Nakajima. This for 10th place.

30/56 Good news for Hamilton as Raikkonen gets stuck behind back-marker Giancarlo Fisichella and loses about a second and a half. Lovely. The lead up to 7.7 seconds.

28/56 As the race reaches its halfway point, Kimi Raikkonen is starting to chip away at Lewis Hamilton's lead - only by a couple of tenths per lap but it all counts. This may yet be a nailbiter.

27/56 Hamilton's lead over Raikkonen is more or less steady around the seven second mark. Alonso has made no impression on Massa, and is nearly six seconds behind the Brazilian.

26/56 Like Piquet, Kubica only takes on a light dusting of fuel. It will be a short second stint and a two-stop strategy.

26/56 It's not like we particularly care about the other Brits but, for the sake of interest, David Coulthard is 10th and Jenson Button dead last, 18th.

25/56 Nelson Piquet is another man on a one-stop strategy and comes in from fifth place - he will be fuelled to the finish. or will he? He only gets 16 laps of fuel.

23/56 Heikki Kovalainen is back in seventh, although his pace is improved from that first stint. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton has told his team that the car is 'perfect'. Let's keep it that way.

22/56 Massa is really not performing today. He is 14.3 seconds off the pace, while Raikkonen is 6.7 behind.

21/56 In fact, Kubica has not come in for his stop yet. He is running third hacing started 11th on a full tank. Must be a one-stopper from the Pole.

20/56 That Kovalainen stop means Hamilton is back in the lead. With the first round of pit-stops out of the way, here's how they stand: 1-Hamilton, 2-Raikkonen, 3-Massa, 4-Alonso.

19/56 Kovalainen pits - he was in the lead. A mammoth, 10.6-second stop for the Finn - surely he can't do a one-stopper?

18/56 Lewis Hamilton is.... 5.6 seconds ahead of Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel is between them. Fingers crossed, it is all going well for the Briton as things stand.

17/56 McLaren will be happy to see Raikkonen come in - it had been thought he might take a short stop to get in front of Hamilton and act as a spoiler. No chance of that at the moment. Hamilton has been given an extra smidgen of downforce to combat that oversteer.

16/56 There is a yellow flag after Adrian Sutil goes off on the entrance to the start-finish straight. A mechanical failure.

16/56 In comes Lewis Hamilton for his first stop.. Massive stop here... a 9.4-second stop and away. Raikkonen also pits and takes on a similar amount of fuel - 24-25 laps.

15/56 Massa pits! New tyres, fire hose removed and away - 9.1 seconds. Exactly the same time for Alonso, who stays behind him. Massa rejoins in eighth.

14/56 Ninth-placed Piquet goes wide over the run-off area and Rubens Barrichello closes up to his rear bumper.

14/56 Right on cue, Lewis Hamilton sets a new fastest lap of the race! He takes another four tenths out of Kimi Raikkonen... and locks up through the right-hand hairpin.

13/56 Mark Webber is the first man to pit, from 10th place. Meanwhile Nico Rosberg sneaks past Timo Glock to go 12th.

13/56 Yikes!! Massive oversteer from Hamilton, who reacts to keep the car in line. But his tyres are obviously not performing the way they did at the start of the race.

12/56 Massa is now eight seconds behind Hamilton and four behind Raikkonen. With each lap, it becomes more difficult for Ferrari to get Massa in front of his team-mate. But it is inconceivable they will let the Finn take points off Massa.

11/56 Danger here. Kimi Raikkonen sets the fastest lap of the race. Admittedly, he is on softer tyres, but Ferrari are starting to hit their stride.

10/56 Webber attempts to outdrag Piquet down the back straight but cocks up the braking and loses out... but he then gets through a couple of corners later. He is up to ninth.

9/56 Jarno Trulli isn't happy with Sebastien Bourdais after that first-lap collision: "He needs to slow down a little ... at the start he doesn't know what to do."

8/56 Lewis Hamilton continues to set a punishing pace at the front of the pack. His lead is close to four seconds and he looks very strong.

8/56 How they stand: 1-Hamilton, 2-Raikkonen, 3-Massa, 4-Alonso, 5-Kovalainen, 6-Heidfeld, 7-Vettel, 8-Kubica.

7/56 Sebastien Bourdais nudges in front of Adrian Sutil's Force India to go 16th. He was the other driver involved in that shunt with Trulli, who is now out of the race.

6/56 Kovalainen is miles off the pace, slipping back towards Heidfeld and Vettel in sixth and seventh. But as long as Hamilton stays out in front we can't complain too much.

5/56 Hamilton's last lap was a 1:37.0, Massa's a 1:38.2. There's no doubt Ferrari are off the pace, but they are still sitting relatively pretty in second and third position. Of course Alonso is a threat in fourth, but as he's publicly stated that he'll do what he can to stop Hamilton winning the title, it's unlikely he will bust a gut.

4/56 A great start from Hamilton, who already leads by two and a half seconds after three full laps. But it is not a championship-winning position. Assuming Ferrari find a way to get Massa past Raikkonen - and they surely will - Hamilton's championship lead would be extended from five to seven points.

3/56 Jarno Trulli has come into the pits for a new nosecone after a collision on the first lap. Kovalainen is struggling and it looks like he will not be a player today.

2/56 Alonso gets past Kovalainen, whose right front brake was smoking on the grid at the start.

1/56 GOOOOO!!! HAMILTON LEADS INTO THE FIRST CORNER FROM RAIKKONEN AND MASSA!! Kovalainen holds off a strong challenge from Alonso to stay in fourth. But Lewis Hamilton leads.

08:00 They are away on the formation lap! Ferrari have gone with soft tyres and McLaren with a harder compound, so there are two distinct strategies in play here.

07:55 Just five minutes from a race that could decide this 2008 world title. People say Formula One is boring and, to be honest, they're often right. But this will be absolutely riveting stuff.

07:49 Hamilton will start alongside Kimi Raikkonen, the team-mate of Massa at the Scuderia, while the Brazilian leads the second row from Fernando Alonso of Renault, race winner in the last two rounds.

07:46 Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull has a 10-place grid penalty for changing his engine - the original one caught fire in final practice. He will start from 16th.

07:45 The cars are lined up on the grid, with the usual circus-like mix of VIPs, mechanics and TV people milling between them - the race will start at 08:00 UK time.

07:40 His five-point lead over Ferrari's Felipe Massa and is 12 points clear of Robert Kubica of BMW. The 23-year-old will triumph if he scores six points more than Massa; otherwise the title battle will go to the last race in Brazil, Massa's home grand prix. Pole Kubica needs to score three points more than Hamilton while not allowing Massa to beat him by more than two points to stay in the reckoning.

- It could be a great day for Lewis Hamilton: the McLaren driver is on pole and, if things go his way, he could be celebrating becoming the youngest Formula One champion by nightfall.

- Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.co.uk's LIVE text coverage and timing of the Chinese Grand Prix from Shanghai.