Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix 2017: Time, TV channel, and starting grid

Lewis Hamilton has pole position for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, and he’ll be accompanied on the front row by Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton, in his Mercedes, put his car in first by nearly two tenths of a second. Vettel, in his Ferrari, is starting in the position he won from in the first race of the season.

Sunday’s grand prix will take place at the Shanghai International Circuit and will be broadcast on television in the United States by NBCSN. The race will also be available streaming online at NBC Sports Live, so there are the two primary ways to catch the race if you happen to be stateside.

The only downside is, of course, the fact that the race, while running at a normal time in China, gets underway at 2 a.m. ET in the United States. Dedicated fans in the country will have to keep some odd hours to keep up with the action but it should be worth it given the intrigue of the Australian Grand Prix.

That first race saw Hamilton take pole position, predictably, but his new teammate, Valtteri Bottas, came in third as they were split by the Ferrari of Vettel. A poorly-timed pit stop and an inability to create separation ultimately allowed Vettel to take the race lead and the win, the first clean win over a Mercedes in a very long time.

As was the case last time, Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen have the top four spots. This time around, Daniel Ricciardo didn’t suffer from car issues and qualified in fifth while his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, did have issues and is starting back in 18th.

Vettel out-qualified Bottas by just one thousandth of a second. He thinks he could have done better if he didn’t “chicken” out on his final lap.

“But I was very happy with the lap I had. Last corner maybe I lost a little bit, maybe ‘chickened’ onto the brakes a little bit too soon,” Vettel said. “Obviously it was very close with Valtteri so good job we just got enough margin to make it to the front row.”

Lance Stroll managed to qualify in the top 10, finishing 10th, while teammate Felipe Massa is in sixth. The rest of the top 10 included Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Sergio Perez of Force India and Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso.

Fernando Alonso of the much-maligned McLaren team qualified in 13th. But Alonso said that it’s a pleasant surprise given how “very uncompetitive” McLaren was in the third practice session.

“I did the lap flat-out in some corners, not caring too much about risking over the limit,” Alonso said of his first qualifying session. “Everything went well, I crossed the line and said ‘wow, this lap is good, we are P10’. And that should be enough to be in Q2.”

Both Jolyon Palmer of Renault and Romain Grosjean of Haas were handed five-place grid penalties for failing to slow under yellow flags over the weekend. Grosjean has been outspoken about his penalty, posting telemetry data which he claims show he slowed adequately. Either way, the pair will start at the back of the grid.

Below is all the information you need to watch Sunday’s grand prix on television and online in the United States.

Date: Sunday, April 9
Location: Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai
Time: 2 a.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Online Streaming: NBC Sports Live