That was a tough race out there today, Alex. That's the best we could have done. We just needed a tiny bit more pace and we'd be there about five seconds from the point. Well managed.

P12 for Alex after those 56 laps.

There's debris on the straight between 13 and 14 on the right-hand side.

Alex is 1.6s behind OCO. Getting to the Alpine and taking P11 could be consequential after the FIA put this message out about HUL in P10: INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 27 (HUL) AND 3 (RIC) WILL BE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE RACE - SAFETY CAR INFRINGEMENT

Field spread has all the drivers outside of DRS range. It's all about Alex pushing hard to close the gap now.

ALO gets by Alex and OCO and is chasing HUL for P10. Alex is just 2.8s away from scoring points.

Okay, so ALO is 4s behind. He's on new mediums. Let's not lose time fighting when he gets with us.

Time to get the elbows out as ALO pits and falls to P12. Alex is now P11, but the Aston Martin is on fresh medium tyres and quickly closing in.

We're into the final 15 laps and P10 is within sight. Alex sits in P12 just behind OCO in P11, who is chasing HUL. The Haas is struggling...

It looks like most drivers are struggling with the tyres. There are 17 laps left for everyone to run.

That's 20 laps remaining.

Alex overtakes RIC! A move hugging up the inside of Turn 1 gets Alex up into P12 and chasing OCO...

We are back to green flag racing.

Panda watch from earlier in the race 🐼

That's 28 laps remaining. MAG and STR are a long way off the back of the pack, so I don't know if they're going to wait for them to pack up. They probably will.

TSU is stranded at the side of the track causing another Safety Car.

Multiple bits of contact at the restart. STR pitted before we even got to the restart after going into the back of RIC at the hairpin. On the restart lap, MAG went into TSU, sending the RB into the grass. Alex is now P13.

The Safety Car is ending... We have 30 laps remaining.

Okay, so currently P17. Behind you got ZHO and GAS. They pitted for new hard and they're going to the end. TSU just ahead of you also pitted for hard. He's going to go to the end. But MAG ahead of him in P15 has gone six laps on a set of hards - we think he's going to stop again.

Alex does put. He gets a set of new Hard tyres. Others also take advantage of the Safety Car's appearance. He emerges P17.

The VSC is now a full Safety Car. Might we see Alex pit?

The stranded car is still stuck on the side of Turn 11. Alex is now P14. He trails STR, who pitted for Hard tyres, and leads ZHO, who remains on old Hards.

We're at reduced speeds so the marshals can recover the Sauber of BOT. Others might pit, but Alex is staying out.

There's a yellow flag at Turn 11 as BOT pulls to the side of the road and retires. Alex improves to P15 as race control considers whether a VSC or Safety Car's services might be required.

All of our rivals have now pitted. Alex sits P16 behind RIC and ahead of ZHO.

RIC gets by Alex to see two RB cars ahead as TSU escaped DRS range.

HAM has passed TSU and Alex is back within DRS range of the RB as the fight for P16 resumes.

The fighting had HAM sneak up on Alex and get by. Alex is stalking the Mercedes as it closes in on TSU. We're sitting P18 as we await others to pit further up.

Wheel-to-wheel action from Alex as he battles TSU. It's almost half a lap of the two side-by-side. TSU holds on

Early stops for others see a flurry of activity in the pit lane. Alex is in and out and onto a new set of mediums. He emerges behind Tsunoda.

Alex's defending on GAS has Alpine asking the stewards to investigate. The Frenchman claims he was pushed off the track.

There are some comms between Alex and the pit wall. Alex is down on traction exiting Turn 13 onto the long DRS straight and the team is suggesting solutions to try and improve the speed.

GAS is pushing to pass but Alex robustly keeps him behind at the exit of Turn 14.

DRS enabled.

A fully clean opening lap from Alex, who has advanced to P13 and is chasing down OCO.

The Chinese GP begins!

Alex will begin his race on a fresh set of the yellow-ringed Medium tyre.

OK, that's five minutes to the formation lap.

The Chinese national anthem fills the air as Alex and the drivers stand at the front of the grid as it plays.

Saying hi to the fans 👋

The first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019 is upon us. After improvements every day so far this weekend, Alex is looking to continue that trend today.

Well managed, Alex. We can see from the video it's just difficult to get between the high speed and low speed but well done today.

We are so on a knife edge with everything.

A 1:35.241 for Alex after a green final sector, he'll line up P14 tomorrow...

Go push when you're ready.

It takes Alex roughly a minute to actually leave the pit lap, but he's on his out lap now. He sits P12 currently...

With 4 minutes left on the clock, Alex rolls out of the garage once more with another set of fresh soft tyres fitted...

Session will resume at 15:45 local time.

SAI is in the wall at the final corner, he is OK and has got it going again. Back to the pits for Alex.

It's a 1:35.271 after his first push, he's P11 currently.

Go push.

Albono rolls out with some brand-new soft tyres on his FW46...

The second knockout phase is underway, but Albono in no rush to get out there just yet...

His time is good enough for P13, time to get set for Q2! Out in Q1: ZHO, MAG, HAM, TSU, SAR.

A 1:35.384, now it's a waiting game...

Alex is opening his final flying lap to try and secure his Q1 progression...

Go switch to go out.

It's a 1:35.729 for Albono on his first Quali push, he's sat in P6...

Go push.

We are go in Quali!

Sprint complete, that's P17 at the line. Now time to go over the data ahead of Qualifying later and tomorrow's Grand Prix...

On to the final tour of the Sprint...

ALO has boxed after the Spaniard picked up a puncture, Alex has climbed up to P17...

Move made at T1, up the inside of HUL! Lovely work, Alex... up to where he started.

HUL now the car ahead of Alex, he's within DRS range...

So the guys ahead are starting to struggle with deg now. ALEX to PIT Yes, I know.

Settling into proceedings, Alex sits just outside of DRS range of TSU ahead. Alex is currently running P19.

They're pushing really hard, so I'm just going to leave it a little bit.

It's a clean start, TSU gets Alex at the hairpin on the opening tour...

We are underway in the Sprint...

Formation lap underway! 19 laps ahead of Alex, let's see what he can do... He joins the vast majority on medium tyres.

That's five minutes to go. I'll head back, have a good one!

Suited and booted, time to Sprint... 📸

Racing on a Saturday morning? Let's get to work!

He improves on his final push, but not enough to make it through. He'll start the Sprint in P18, out in the first stage with GAS, OCO, TSU and SAR. He reports a fire on the grass at T5.

Go push.

Alex is winding up for his final SQ1 push...

Back to the garage, it's a quick turnaround - Alex sits P16 after the first run...

It's a 1:38.043 on his first push, plenty still on push laps...

Totally green, totally green.

Traffic should be OK, go push final corner.

Alex is the first car out on track in SQ1. Reminder that it's medium tyres only at this stage...

And to throw another curveball, we've had a little rain in Shanghai...

That's FP1 complete, Alex ends it in P8. Time to go over the data ahead of Sprint Qualifying later today...

A couple of cool laps before Alex gets set for another flier which he will not complete. Alex has filtered down to P3...

Three purple sectors for Alex, eight tenths clear of P2 to top the time sheets for now...

Soft tyres fitted, time for some Quali sim...

Alex visits the box to put some rubber down ahead of the race. He'll be back in the garage next time around...

Alex is gathering some data for both races this weekend, circulating on the same set of medium tyres that he started the session on..

Fire = extinguished. Alex is the first driver back on track...

There's a fire in the grass on the inside of T7, very unusual – it's back to the pits...

It's a pretty green track out there, so not much grip for the drivers. Alex banks a 1:40.857 on his first timed tour...

Sliding the surface everywhere, just not gripping into the tarmac.

Alex rolls out of the garage with medium tyres fitted...

FP1 is underway here in Shanghai! One hour to get as much data as possible...

Incase you needed it, it's a Sprint weekend! This is the only Practice session of the weekend, so expect a busy hour...

Welcome along to live coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix - we're back in Shanghai for the first time since 2019 and Alex will be taking to the track very shortly...