Chinese Grand Prix qualifying: Vettel on pole as Ferrari lock out front row

It was chilly and overcast on the track, and even more gloomy in the Red Bull garage, where Daniel Ricciardo's car was lacking a gearbox.

They did get him out on track, though, with just three minutes left of the session.

And with the single lap he was able to clock, he managed to move through to Q2 in P14.

The Ferraris set the pace, with Sebastian Vettel nudging ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, and the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton going slower, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Haas's Romain Grosjean splitting the pair.

Charles Leclerc took a spin on Turn 16, with the back of his car suddenly veering out of control, but he was able to resume his lap.

And there was more disappointment for the relatively inexperienced Williams drivers, with both Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll eliminated, alongside Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, who had such a great weekend in Bahrain.

Raikkonen went quicker than Vettel this time round, with Ricciardo starting to get a handle on the track and securing himself P3 temporarily.

Hamilton, meanwhile, had a dismal time of it for the first 12 minutes or so, over half a second slower than the Ferraris, but stole P1 at the last.

Stoffel Vandoorne attempted to offer Fernando Alonso a bit of a tow as the clock ticked down in an effort to drag him into Q3, but the Force Indias and the Renaults had different ideas, with Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz knocking him down the board as the chequered flag waved.

Raikkonen turned in a piece of absolutely blistering driving, breaking the lap record to secure provisional pole.

Mercedes were desperate to break that front-row monopoly by Ferrari, tweaking Hamilton's car with an eye-catching visual.

But although the Iceman extended his advantage at the last, he was usurped by Vettel, who went eight-hundredths of a second quicker.

It's another duel between Ferrari and Mercedes - but the Silver Arrows looked well off the pace. They may have locked out the second row, but if they want to win the race they'll have to be alert to capitalise on any mistakes from Vettel or Raikkonen, because in sheer time terms they're lacking.

Solid work from Red Bull after such a frantic start to the session with Ricciardo's technical problems, and a good third-row lock-out.

Gasly is, of course, still a newbie in F1 terms, but it was still surprising to see him go out so early after such an impressive showing last weekend.

Nico Hulkenberg quietly put together some really quick laps wth some nifty driving - he can aim for some decent points tomorrow.

Vettel - Raikkonen - Hamilton