2009 Bahrain Grand Prix Race day at the Bahrain International Circuit

Vettel

The fuel weights released by the FIA give an interesting picture of how the race will unfold. Jarno Trulli carried more fuel in qualifying than team-mate Glock and was also faster, so it was an extremely strong performance from the Italian on Saturday.

Trulli is likely to stop around lap 14 - two laps later than his team-mate.

Sebastian Vettel is in a strong position. The German is third on the grid with a significant fuel load - perhaps enough for 18 laps of the circuit in his Red Bull. Unless the Toyota pair can sprint off in to the distance early on, Vettel is well-placed to challenge for the lead once the Toyotas stop before him.

Behind the top three, Button, Hamilton, Barrichello and Alonso all have similar fuel loads and it will be interesting to see how the KERS-equipped McLaren and Renault cars fare against the pair of Brawns and whether Button can take the fight to the cars ahead.

The following list shows the weight of each car on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix: Pos Driver Team Weight (kg) 1. Trulli Toyota 648.5 2. Glock Toyota 643.0 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 659.0 4. Button Brawn-Mercedes 652.5 5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 652.5 6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 649.0 7. Alonso Renault 650.5 8. Massa Ferrari 664.5 9. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 670.5 10. Raikkonen Ferrari 671.5 11. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 678.5 12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 680.9 13. Kubica BMW-Sauber 698.6 14. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 696.3 15. Piquet Renault 677.6 16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 678.5 17. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 652.0 18. Webber Red Bull-Renault 656.0 19. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 679.0 20. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 667.5

The entertainment that the Bahrain Grand Prix organisers have laid on isn't limited to the racing on track, or feats of underwater endurance.

The facility also boasts a kart circuit, the only Hummer Academy outside the United States, jugglers and musical entertainers behind the grandstands, as well as some of Bernie Ecclestone's mighty collection of historic grand prix cars.

Yesterday, a series of parachute jumps were performed with skydivers landing complete with the Bahrain national flag. And now, the eagle-eyed in the grandstand are enjoying a helicopter flypass.

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone walks over to congratulate Merlini as he climbs out of the tank. In honour of this amazing achievement, the Hungarian national anthem is played on the public address system.

Merlini has smashed his own world record for holding his breath under water. The Hungarian managed a whopping 21 minutes 29 seconds in the tank to take the record even further out of reach - an amazing feat.

The crowd roared its approval as Merlini passed over his previous benchmark.

Mark Webber

Mark Webber suffered in heavy traffic during qualifying for this afternoon's race, and the blame was put squarely at the feet of Adrian Sutil.

Webber posted a poor effort on his first run in Q1, leaving him mired in the midfield with a time that clearly would not be good enough. Meanwhile, Sutil had fared much better on his first run and was sixth at one stage.

Webber came out early for a final run but encountered Sutil, on an out lap, in Turn 13.

The Force India driver, it must be said, was less than helpful - occupying the racing line, and even racing Webber hard into the final corner of the lap as the Red Bull sliced up the inside onto the dirty part of the circuit. Webber crossed the line and he did not improve, while Sutil re-passed Mark going into Turn 1.

Sutil carried on with his final lap, posting a 1:33.722 to move up to 15th spot. Force India were looking at progression, until Nakajima came along and set a time good enough to move up from the dropzone to the top ten, dropping Sutil into 16th place and out of the session.

Later in the afternoon, the stewards of the meeting found Adrian guilty of impeding Webber, and demoted him three places down the grid. Sutil will start today's race from 19th position, with Webber one place better off, in 18th.

The most recent track activity saw the Formula 1 drivers emerge for the first time today for their traditional parade in front of the fans.

In a change to the standard format, the drivers stood on a in a line on the grid and gave brief interviews on the circuit public address system.

Simultaneously, we are watching a bizarre world record attempt on the grid. Escape-artist David Merlini is attempting to break his own record for holding his breath under water. The current benchmark is 20 minutes 39 seconds - a time that the Hungarian is aiming to better.

With the record attempt is in progress, Formula 1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone quietly sipped a bottle of water to cool down, as the drivers headed back into their team hospitality areas to prepare for the race.

Many of the team principals are still watching on as Merlini continues his ordeal.

The GP2 Asia Series concluded this morning with Brazilian Luiz Razia winning for Arden. Jérôme d'Ambrosio finished second to clinch the runner-up spot in the championship and make it a DAMS one-two in the final standings.

Today's final support action of a packed programme was the second race of the Porsche Supercup. Reigning champion Jerome Bleekemolen was in dominant form and won for the second time this weekend to take maximum points from Bahrain in to the European season. Rene Rast finished second, ahead of former champion Richard Westbrook.

The Forumula 1 drivers will no doubt find the circuit in poor condition at the start of the grand prix after so much support running since the end of qualifying.

Speedcar

The spectators at the Bahrain International Circuit have been treated to four doses of early action in the build-up to the grand prix. They have already seen a championship decided, although you had to be at the track by 09:00 to catch it.

The Speedcar series was first on the menu, with former Formula 1 drivers Gianni Morbidelli, Johnny Herbert, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jean Alesi all in contention for the title in the deciding race.

Herbert won Saturday's race to close the gap on Morbidelli to just a single point. But today, the title protagonists were fighting down the field, as another ex-Formula 1 driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi, claimed the honours ahead of Thomas Biagi.

The race began spectacularly, with Jean Alesi starting 16th but confused by the lights sequence. As the field rolled towards the lights Alesi put his foot down and powered past everyone on the grass, surging into a huge lead by Turn 1 - an act that soon earned the Frenchman a drive-through penalty. Gianni Morbidelli came home fifth with Herbert right behind him in sixth. Morbidelli therefore claims the 2009 Speedcar title by two points and nets a cool $500,000 prize money.

Next on track was the second of this weekend's Chevrolet Super Car Middle East demonstration races. Saudi Arabia's Prince Khalid Al Faisal took victory in both the Saturday evening and Sunday events, both run over eight laps. These exhibition races are a prelude to the 2009 season, as the series - formerly the Lumina CSV Middle East - undergoes a facelift.

Trulli and Glock

Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock gave Toyota their best day yet in Formula 1 by locking out the front row of the grid for this afternoon's 57-lap race.

Glock set the pace in final practice. The Toyotas were demonstrating excellent speed, but Timo's mood was tempered when his TF109 ground to a halt exiting Turn 13 in the final moments of the session with an electronics glitch. Behind him in the final practice order was Massa, Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Piquet.

Glock fastest in final Bahrain practice

Glock's Toyota was fixed well in time for the qualifying session, which the team went on to dominate. But, before that, we had the usual surprises to debate.

Mark Webber was one of those to fall at the first hurdle, following a horrendous run in traffic, along with rookie Sebastien Buemi. Both will race from near the back of the field today.

BMW drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld have yet to find good pace from their cars. They joined Heikki Kovalainen on the sidelines in the second portion of the knockout session.

The Ferraris progressed into the top ten shootout, along with Lewis Hamilton and the remaining 2009 protagonists, but they didn't have an answer for the blinding Toyota pace.

Jenson Button grabbed provisional pole, but was soon beaten by Glock with a rapid 1:33.712. Behind Timo on the road, Jarno Trulli was going even quicker, and the Italian bagged pole position with a stunning 1:33.431 to give the Cologne-based outfit their first front row lockout in the sport.

Trulli heads all-Toyota front row

The weather is great once again at the Bahrain International Circuit today. There is plenty of sunshine this morning, but temperatures are slightly cooler than those experienced on Friday and Saturday.

A stiff breeze is blowing from the north-west, and we expect the air temperature to peak at 34 degrees Celsius. Track temperatures will drop slightly, but should still be quite close to the 50 degree mark.

AUTOSPORT forum members are invited to join the fun throughout the race, offering thoughts and opinions as the event unfolds.

• Can Toyota back up their front row lockout with their first Formula 1 victory in today's race?
• Fuel loads suggest Sebastian Vettel is very well-placed to challenge for the win, but who will come out on top?
• And what about McLaren? Lewis Hamilton starts from a positive fifth place this afternoon. Is the world champion set for some points today, or even a podium?

Tell everyone what you think.

Click the SHOW LIVE FORUM link in the red bar at the bottom of your browser window if you'd like to join the debate.

Hello and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for round four of the 2009 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Following three races in Australia and the far east, the sport has moved a little closer to its European homeland, to the Middle East, for the sixth Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.