FORMULA 1 Live

08:11 Mark Webber says: "I was desperate to be on the front row, but we have done a very good job as a team and it has been a good day. It's been a difficult start to the season for me with the leg injury, but so far it is working and we (Vettel) are pushing each other very hard and getting the rewards as a team."

08:09 Fernando Alonso says: "We came from nowhere, but it is what I expect from this championship. We are suddenly very competitive and I cannot be happier with the progress we have made. This circuit suited the car, and although we had concerns, we performed well."

08:07 Sebastian Vettel says: "I am very pleased with our team's performance. We all raised our game and did a brilliant job. I was always confident after Q2 and fortunately it all went right from start to finish. I can't wait to start in tomorrow's race." And in concluding his assessment, Vettel gives the ultimate qualifying platitude: "First place is the best place to start on the whole grid."

08:06 Jenson Button lavishes praise on Red Bull, branding the new upstarts, "competitive, and interesting".

08:05 Vettel's time was 1:36.184, with Alonso +0.197 behind, and Webber +0.282. Red Bull's Christian Horner has a broad smile plastered across his face, while a slightly subdued Lewis Hamilton returns to his team.

08:04 Vettel wags his forefinger in jubilant mood as he embraces his team-mate Webber, who looks slightly disappointed with his third, while Alonso is ecstatic to have pinched second place.

08:03 Vettel clinches just his second pole position in his fledgling career, and Alonso is the bolt from the blue in taking second spot ahead of Webber and the two Brawn drivers.

08:02 So, the top ten reads: Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Barrichello, Button, Trulli, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Buemi.

08:01 Sebastien Vettel takes pole! The Red Bull driver steals in to pip Fernando Alonso, who pulls a second place out of the bag. Mark Webber is in third.

08:00 Webber takes top place with a 1:36.466, as Button can't beat it and slips to second.

07:59 Barrichello's time looks under severe threat from Webber and Vettel, who has joined his team-mate.

07:58 Vettel is going out for one lap, while Webber looks in imperious form, but with Button right behind him.

07:57 Nico Rosberg, on the super-soft tyres is fourth fastest, as Hamilton can only take seventh so far.

07:56 Vettel is clearly light on fuel as he takes his time coming out. Hamilton is just finishing his out-lap as he looks to step up his level, hitting his hot-lap with real fervour.

07:55 But Webber is pipped by Rubens Barrichello, who records a 1:37.146 as Brawn seize the initiative once more.

07:53 Webber clinches top spot with a 1:37.188, with Button stalking him down the straight. Alonso is pleased with his progress in his much-modified R29.

07:52 Alonso records a 1:37.586, with all the drivers out now with the exception of Buemi and the elusive Vettel.

07:51 Fernando Alonso is next out for Renault, whose mechanics were apparently out until 5.30 UK time, this morning fiddling and tinkering with his car.

07:50 Nico Rosberg is the first man out in Q3, with the tension palpable across the respective teams in their garages.

07:45 The remaining ten drivers now take on race fuel ahead of the final phase of qualifying, and it is intriguingly poised.

07:44 Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Massa, Glock and Nakajima are the drivers who are cut out of qualifying, in that order, and miss Q3.

07:42 So we have Vettel, Webber, Barrichello, Button, Trulli, Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg, Raikkonen and Buemi.

07:41 Vettel turns his afternoon around and jumps into first with a 1:35.130, with Massa languishing down in 12th.

07:40 Mark Webber pips Button with a 1:35.173, while Trulli leaps into third with a strong lap, and Massa is pushed dispondently into the garage.

07:39 Button vaults into top spot with a 1:35.556, while Mark Webber is looking very good.

07:38 Barrichello and Button are both looking ominous as they storm down the straight close to each other.

07:37 Barrichello and Hamilton fly out of the traps, with the British driver attempting to beat his own first-sector fastest time.

07:36 Heidfeld finds hits seventh spot, with Kovalainen in ninth, with Trulli and Glock pushed down at their expense.

07:35 The slowest five are Nakajima, Buemi, Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Vettel as we stand.

07:34 Vettel must have a problem with his Red Bull, that or he is drinking some before a belated entry in Q2. Kovalainen is finally on the track himself, while most drivers are pitting ahead of a final run at qualifying glory.

07:33 Vettel and Kovalainen have it all to do, and show no signs of setting a decent time yet. Heidfeld is looking bullish with a fine early sector in his lap.

07:32 Mark Webber forces the fastest time thus far with a 1:35.632, with Hamilton in second, pushing Barrichello down into third.

07:31 Raikkonen snatches third place off Button, while Timo Glock jumps into seventh.

07:30 Rubens Barrichello hits his straps for Brawn, taking top spot with a 1:35.784, followed by Rosberg and Button.

07:29 Rosberg is on his first timed lap, while the Williams duo adopt the soft tyres.

07:28 Raikkonen has problems, with a long stint of slow driving which the commentator's put down to 'cold, dirty tyres'.

07:27 We are out for Q2, and this is a 15-minute session. Button leads the cars in his lurid yellow-dashed Brawn.

07:24 We now have a short pause ahead of Q2, with Rosberg, Raikkonen, Massa, Buemi, Trulli and Glock behind Hamilton in fourth and making up the top ten.

07:22 So big news as Kubica bites the dust, while Heidfeld's last lap saves him from elimination after going perilously close.

07:21 Boudais will start 16th, ahead of Piquet, Kubica, Sutil and Fisichella.

07:20 Robert Kubica is gone, while Boudais is greeted by the chequered flag. Buemi is in seventh spot with a fine lap, while Hamilton takes two fastest-sector times on his lap.

07:19 Webber regains top spot with a 1:35.751, but Button steals in with a 1:35.533!

07:18 Hamilton is back out, while under three minutes remaining. Massa is looking fast on his current lap, while Glock is also fervently stepping on the gas.

07:17 Trulli and Glock are among those drivers who are in danger of dropping out, while Rosberg raises the bar with a 1:35.941.

07:16 And Rosberg duly obliges with a 1:36.385 to move into third, with Hamilton and Barrichello in the ascendency.

07:15 Barrichello's 1:36.374 is under threat from Nico Rosberg, who looks to be on a very promising lap. Kovalainen is in pursuit, with the pressure on the Maclaren driver to record a decent time now.

07:14 Webber runs through the gravel trap on pit lane entry, while Bourdais moves tenth fastest and Kovalainen is still yet to set a time.

07:13 But Brawn are back! Rubens Barrichello takes over at the top on hard tyres, taking Hamilton's top place recorded on softs.

07:12 Raikkonen clinches first place, before Hamilton stalks him down the track and pips him with a 1:36.381 - Anthony Hamilton gives a surprised but helpless shrug in the Maclaren camp.

07:11 But Vettel is undeterred and snatches it back with a 1:36.633, putting the onus firmly back on Button.

07:10 Vettel takes top spot briefly, before Jenson Button and Mark Webber overhaul him, with the latter recording 1:37.100.

07:08 Sutil and Fisichella of Force India, record 1:38.710 and 1:38.990 respectively.

07:06 Rosberg is fastest with a 1:37.518, with Toro Rosso's Buemi also recording a solid time.

07:04 Raikkonen is out, along with Timo Glock, with his five-place grid penalty.

07:02 The Force India pair are out on the track as is Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso.

07:00 Q1 is underway.

- The weather is sunny, about 24 degrees, and the track is dry with a track temperature of 38 degrees. A far cry from the scenes in Malaysia last time out.

- Timo Glock will take a five-place penalty after qualifying, having suffered a gearbox failure during the third and final free practice session in Shanghai. The German managed just six laps before falling foul of an upshift problem on the start-finish straight and having to crawl back to the Toyota garage.

- From 07:45 to 08:00 (Q3) the ten remaining cars will be permitted on the track to contest the positions on the front five rows of the grid.

- From 07:22 to 07:37 (Q2) the fifteen remaining cars will be permitted on the track and at the end of this period the slowest five cars will be prohibited from taking any further part in the session. Lap times achieved by the ten remaining cars will then be deleted.

- The session will be run as follows: From 07:00 to 07:15 (Q1) all cars will be permitted on the track and at the end of this period the slowest three cars will be prohibited from taking any further part in the session. Lap times achieved by the fifteen remaining cars will then be deleted.

- Germany's Nico Rosberg overcame an embarrassing pit lane gaffe to top the timesheets in the third and final practice session earlier.

- Jenson Button is gunning for a third consecutive pole position this season in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix which starts at 0700 BST.