Based on this morning's evidence, if nothing else, Lewis Hamilton is determined to bring teammate Nico Rosberg's winning streak to a sudden halt this weekend.

Though the Briton, like many others, has struggled for grip and had more than his fair share of excursions and spins, when he does put a lap together it is well nigh perfect.

Then again, Rosberg is no slouch, the German looking every inch a champion, more so than at any other time.

Despite its problems - most of which appear to inflict Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari is keeping the German team honest. Indeed, such is the (slowly) increasing threat, Mercedes has been forced to dip into its token allowance.

Whilst Red Bull appear to be the third team it had an indifferent session this morning with both drivers outside the top ten.

Williams looked a lot stronger this morning, both drivers well matched, albeit 1.5s off Hamilton's pace.

Behind we have the Toro Rossos, Force Indias and McLarens, Jenson Button finishing a mighty impressive 8th earlier.

Tyre options this weekend, for the fourth successive race, are supersoft, soft and medium. In truth, it is unlikely we will see much more of the mediums, whilst it was noted earlier that whilst it took a couple of laps to warm up the supers, once 'fit to go', they were good for six or seven strong laps.

Unlike Shanghai, a good grid spot is vital here, which means even more bad news for Vettel who takes a five-place hit after his team opted to change his gearbox.

Ahead of Q1, the air temperature is 17 degrees C, whilst the track temperature is 30 degrees.

Whilst T2 was one of the main problems yesterday, earlier it was T13, which caught out a number of driver including Hamilton. Any such errors over the next hour however could prove costly, and not only for the driver directly involved as witnessed in Shanghai when the red flag in Q2 means a number of drivers were unable to improve.

The lights go green and Wehrlein leads the way, followed by Nasr, Gutierrez, Magnussen, Haryanto and Hamilton. Everyone on supers thus far.

First out, Wehrlein and Nasr trade fastest sectors, the German posts 40.162, the Brazilian 39.549, only to be leapfrogged by Gutierrez who posts 38.891.

Rosberg can only manage 49.302 and Hamilton 2:00.703.

Hulkenberg takes the top spot with a 38.562 as Palmer goes third (39.199).

Next time around Rosberg improves to 36.684, but is demoted moments later when Hamilton crosses the line at 36.518.

Vettel heads out whilst Perez is the first driver to emerge on the softs.

Grosjean is the first victim of T13 this afternoon. He won't be the last.

As Vettel begins his first flying lap, Hamilton runs wide in T2.

Going quickest in the final two sectors, Rosberg posts a 36.119 to go top.

A dreadful final sector (traffic?) means Vettel can only manage 55.811, teammate Raikkonen posts 41.555.

Hamilton re-takes the top spot with a 36.006 as Haryanto goes tenth, ahead of Ericsson, Wehrlein... and the Ferraris.

Next time around Vettel improves to third (37.353), but remains 1.347s off the pace.

Hamilton is under investigation for failing to follow the race director's T2 instructions.

Raikkonen goers third with a 36.976, thereby demoting his teammate.

A 38.091 sees Ricciardo go eighth, ahead of Perez, Button and Sainz.

With less than four minutes remaining, both Renault drivers are in the drop zone, along with Grosjean, Ericsson and the Manors.

Alonso goes seventh with a 37.971, as Kvyat seeks to improve on seventeenth. The Russian subsequently posts 38.265 to go tenth, thereby dropping Nasr into the drop zone.

Despite his best efforts, Palmer fails to improve, and along with his teammate falls at the first hurdle.

Quickest was Hamilton, ahead of Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Massa, Sainz, Alonso, Perez and Ricciardo.

We lose Magnussen, Palmer, Nasr, Wehrlein, Haryanto and Ericsson.

Ahead of Q2, we wonder whether Mercedes - or anyone else - will attempt what Rosberg did in China and stick with the softs as opposed to the supers.

Check out our Saturday gallery, here.