F1 Chinese GP sprint race and qualifying as it happened

Leclerc calmly berates Hamilton on the radio for his taking the fight to him on the previous lap - no contact, so no harm, no foul

Hamilton, meanwhile, has Antonelli crawling over his rear wing now

The reason for Antonelli's penalty.

Having declared that 'Hamilton is struggling', Leclerc strikes for second place with a neat move into Turn 1.

He rises to second place but is +2.3secs adrift of Russell now

Antonelli, meanwhile, is ahead of both McLarens in fourth but has to put 10 seconds between himself and Norris to hold onto that position at the flag

Russell ends lap six with a +1.2s advantage over Hamilton - could that be the key break?

Meanwhile, Antonelli is back past Piastri for fifth after the pair swapped position once more.

Having finally countered Hamilton into Turn 1 this time, Russell is quickly putting the hammer down to put some air between himself and the Ferrari

Russell is back in the lead with a more measured overtake into the hairpin at the end of the back straight

Hamilton can't respond on the run to Turn 1 this time, as Leclerc gets very fresh on the inside and has to back out to avoid hitting his team-mate

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as Russell attempts to mirror Hamilton's move on the previous lap

He can't execute it though, Hamilton holds the lead

The top three are powering clear of the McLarens in fourth and fifth, as they come under pressure from Antonelli.

The Italian duly cruises up to the rear of Piastri and is past into the final corner

Verstappen, meanwhile, is still out of the points in 13th after getting a terrible start

Replay of the start of the sprint.

Russell powers back into the lead on the back straight as Hamilton's Ferrari clips its power - can Hamilton get him back on the run to T1 on lap four?

He goes all the way around the outside of Turn 1 and squeezes the Mercedes on the apex to resume the lead

After taking the lead again at the start of lap two, Hamilton has successfully defended from the Mercedes driver to hold the advantage into lap three

Leclerc is right back on the top two as well, the top three running in close formation

Norris and Piastri more than a second adrift of this fight

After bogging down at the start, Antonelli is making back ground - he has passed Gasly for sixth

1. Hamilton
2. Russell
3. Leclerc
4. Norris
5. Piastri
6. Gasly
7. Antonelli
8. Bearman
9. Hadjar
10. Lawson

Hamilton gets his boost back down the home straight to stream past Russell into the lead again at the start of lap two

Russell bites back on the long back straight to snatch the lead back - he will lead at the end of Lap 1

Meanwhile, terrible start for Red Bull with Verstappen getting away badly, Hadjar running wide at Turn 6 before Lindblad is spun at Turn 11

Shocking start for Antonelli, but Russell holds the lead from Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc through Turn 1

Mediums largely across the board, but Hadjar is an outlier with softs from tenth, while Lawson, Alonso and Sainz are betting on the hard

It's bizarre to be coming into the race being more focused on the drivers starting fourth and sixth on the grid, but this is the new era of F1, for now at least

One update to the grid - Alex Albon starts from the pit-lane.

That lifts Alonso to 18th, Stroll to 19th, Bottas to 20th and Perez to 21st

Back onto the subject of starts, could we see a more chaotic first few metres than we feared in Melbourne?

While there were no major incidents, you'll have likely seen Franco Colapinto's lightning quick reactions to slalom round a slow moving Liam Lawson with barely an inch to spare. It was certainly enough to get the attention of drivers to indicate their dissatisfaction.

Moreover, will Russell, Antonelli and Norris be a little more forceful in their defence against a predicted Ferrari surge on the run to Turn 1... with fewer laps to counter the difference, it's plausible.