2010 Belgian Grand Prix Race day at Spa-Francorchamps

We are watching a large build-up of showers to the west of the circuit. It is now possible that further rain could hit around the time of the race start.

Kovalainen starts a promising 13th

Kovalainen starts a promising 13th © Sutton
The second half of the field is full of surprises and therefore also drivers who are generally considered to be 'out of position'.

Heikki Kovalainen was promoted to 13th place following the penalties and the Finn is not afraid to defend track position. Nico Rosberg starts alongside the Lotus and will be looking to at least gain one place into La Source.

Jarno Trulli seals the best team performance for Lotus with a start from 15th on the grid. Buemi and Kobayashi are directly behind and will also look to make up places against both Lotus entries on lap one. HRT drivers Senna and Yamamoto are 18th and 19th and it is expected they will quickly have to watch their mirrors for the advances of Glock and Schumacher.

Schumacher will find it very tough from down there in 21st. You would think that he will make it past both HRT and Lotus cars in the early laps, but the time gap to the likes of Buemi and Kobayashi up ahead will take him a long time to close down.

Vitaly Petrov starts from 23rd in the Renault and he too should make progress past the six drivers from the three new teams, but like Schumacher, he may lose touch with the established runners, after spending the early laps passing slower traffic.

Pedro de la Rosa was this morning relegated to the back of the grid following an engine change. The Spanish driver will endure a very difficult race from there with a lot of slightly slower cars ahead of him.

Alonso has it all to do from 10th

Alonso has it all to do from 10th © Sutton
With a jumbled grid let's take a look at some of the drivers to watch in the opening stages of the race.

Mark Webber will obviously be keen to maintain track position over Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap. The scrap between these two has been billed as the battle of the F-ducts and the long uphill run along the Kemmel straight could provide the McLaren driver with his best opportunity in the first stint.

Robert Kubica in third is strong when conditions are changeable, but Sebastian Vettel will be tough to hold back on current form. Button and Massa may be advised to hold off the aggression just for a lap or two incase there's fun and games up ahead and could be men to watch if conditions change during the race.

Fernando Alonso has a lot to do from 10th spot and the Spaniard needs to score well today to stay in touch in the championship race. Attacking early on could leave him with front wing damage or worse, but if he plays it cautiously the leaders could be long gone once he passes the Williams drivers and Sutil's Force India. Alonso is in an unenviable position.

Alguersuari and Liuzzi start from 11th and 12th. Both are prone to making aggressive moves, but the potential wrath of Alonso may temper even their hopes of making up places at the start.

With penalties applied, here's how the grid will line up this afternoon: Pos Driver Team 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 3. Kubica Renault 4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 5. Button McLaren-Mercedes 6. Massa Ferrari 7. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 9. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 10. Alonso Ferrari 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 13. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 14. Rosberg Mercedes * 15. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari ** 17. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 18. Senna HRT-Cosworth 19. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth *** 21. Schumacher Mercedes **** 22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 23. Petrov Renault 24. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari ***** * Five-place penalty for gearbox change ** Three-place penalty for impeding Rosberg *** Five-place penalty for impeding Yamamoto **** 10-place penalty for Barrichello incident in Hungary ***** 10-place penalty for use of ninth engine

Sean Edwards dominated in Supercup

Sean Edwards dominated in Supercup © Porsche
Sean Edwards dominated the Porsche Supercup race at Spa as the Briton backed up his 2008 victory with a commanding lights-to-flag triumph.

Championship leader Rene Rast had no answer for Edwards' speed but finished a strong second to take vital points in the title race while his main rival, Nick Tandy, did his best to limit the damage from a disastrous qualifying.

Tandy started 16th, but his progress through the field provided much of the entertainment as he surged forwards throughout the 11 lap race. Picking off cars lap-by-lap, particularly on arrival at Les Combes, the Briton had salvaged 6th by the flag - meaning Rast has a 16 point lead heading into the final round at Monza which Tandy could still mathematically overcome.

Elsewhere, Jaap van Lagen came out on top of a race-long battle with Jan Seyffarth, with the pair taking third and fourth. Nicolas Armindo, making another guest appearance in Jeroen Bleekemolen's car, took a strong fifth.

Perez kept his championship hopes alive

Perez kept his championship hopes alive © LAT
Sergio Perez kept his slim championship hopes alive by taking a vital victory in today’s GP2 sprint race at Spa.

After starting second, the Addax driver made light work of pole man Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden), passing him at Les Combes on the first lap before surviving several restarts to clinch a comfortable win.

In a race punctuated by three safety cars for accidents and debris - with the slippery run out of Rivage claiming three victims - Gonzalez also dropped behind Perez’s charging team-mate Giedo van der Garde and feature race winner Alvaro Parente (Coloni).

Championship leader Pastor Maldonado retired at Les Combes on the first lap, so the Venezuelan must wait until the next round at Monza for a another chance to clinch the series title.

Tambay made slicks work in the rain

Tambay made slicks work in the rain © Sutton
Adrien Tambay produced an astounding performance on slick tyres to win today’s GP3 race at Spa.

The Manor driver vaulted up to the lead - from 28th on the grid - after he remained out on his dry-weather tyres while everyone else pitted when a mid-race shower hit the circuit.

His 10 second lead was quickly reeled in by those on wet rubber, but by that stage the circuit was drying and Tambay had incredibly survived the worst of the damp conditions.

Nico Muller (Jenzer) kept the pressure on Tambay, but he was demoted to third as a charging Alex Rossi (ART) took over
second place on the penultimate lap but he too could not find a way past the determined Tambay.

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Light rain is beginning to fall over the circuit as we tick down towards one hour until the start of the race.

Fans brave the rain at Spa

Fans brave the rain at Spa © Sutton
Motor racing fans love to debate and discuss the action on track, and the live forum at the bottom of the screen is your chance to let everyone know your thoughts on events as they unfold at the circuit.

• Can Mark Webber keep it together to grab another victory, without letting any thought of the championship enter his mind?

• How is Fernando Alonso going to get on from 10th? He needs to pass some cars if he wants a good haul of points today.

• Would you like to see a dry race, given the grid we have, or are you devious and wish to see the drivers cope with more rain?

Tell the world 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.

Morning showers meant a tricky but exciting support race card for the spectators to enjoy. Since the end of the GP3 race, conditions have gradually dried out and at the moment track conditions are almost completely dry, with just a few wet kerbs and damp patches remaining off line.

Right now, there is little threat of immediate rain on the radar, but showers will build from the north and west as we go through the next few hours and a threat of rain - particularly in the second half of the race - remains in play.

Temperatures are the coldest we have seen over the weekend, with a maximum of just 14 degrees Celsius, making it feel very chilly during the cloudy and wet spells.

Heavy traffic in qualifying resulted in a range of penalties

Heavu traffic in qualifying resulted in a range of penalties © Sutton
1992 world champion Nigel Mansell joined the FIA stewards' panel once again this weekend, and perhaps foolishly praised the drivers before qualifying on their driving standards.

He would find himself extremely busy after the session, however, as a raft of penalties were handed out:

• Nico Rosberg received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change in the break between final practice and the start of qualifying.

• Jarno Trulli was the first Formula 1 driver this weekend to fall foul of the pitlane speed limit. The Italian was clocked at 121.7 kmh in the first period and was handed a fine of 4,400 Euros.

• After a great performance in the session, Timo Glock was slapped with a five place grid penalty for impeding the progress of Sakon Yamamoto at the end of Q1.

• Sebastien Buemi was handed a three-place grid drop for impeding Nico Rosberg towards the end of the second qualifying period.

• Having reviewed the evidence of an incident between Jarno Trulli and Lucas di Grassi in the first qualifying period, the stewards deemed that no further action should be taken.

• Rewinding some four weeks to the last few laps of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was of course handed a 10-place grid drop following his robust defence against Rubens Barrichello.

Petrov on course for a costly crash

Petrov on course for a costly crash in Q1 © Sutton
Showers dominated the three-tier knockout qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, but through the chaos came Mark Webber with a stunning lap to claim his fifth pole of the season for Red Bull Racing.

Vitaly Petrov was merely the first casualty of the day when he ran wide over a wet kerb exiting Turn 9 on the lap out of the pits. He immediately lost control of the R30 and slewed across the track to meet a date of destiny with the barriers.

The session was briefly red flagged to recover the Russian's car, but with rain imminent everyone was keen to get back on track. Carnage followed as the field danced into the Curve Paul Frere on the first timed lap. No less than seven drivers came to grief at the same corner in a calamitous minute. They were able to rejoin but there were shocks in the ultimate Q1 line-up.

Both Sauber drivers failed to make it, as did the aforementioned Petrov. This meant jubilation for some of the new teams, with Kovalainen and Glock capitalising on others' misfortunes.

Second qualifying delivered more fun and games when Williams drivers Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg drop-kicked both Mercedes out of the shootout on the final lap - just the boost that Barrichello needed on this, his landmark 300th grand prix weekend.

But the action didn't end there. The usual suspects made it through to the final confrontation and, with another light shower looming, an early banker lap was a must.

Webber ticked the box and posted a rapid 1m45.778s to demote early pacesetter, Lewis Hamilton. Vettel scrambled over the line for third, while the Ferrari drivers played it cool - too cool as things were to transpire. Needing to find a lot of time Massa and Alonso pushed hard, but the rain had arrived and their luck ran out. Massa almost lost it in the gravel but was able to save the F10 from damage, while Alonso rued a missed opportunity, ending up a lowly 10th.

So Webber bags his 10th front row start in 13 races and keeps his scintillating qualifying run going, ahead of Hamilton, Vettel, Kubica, Button and Massa.

The magnificent Spa-Francorchamps

The magnificent Spa-Francorchamps © Sutton
Hello and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 13 in the 2010 FIA Formula 1 world championship. The long summer break is over and it is time to go racing once again.

The sport returns to the global stage with this afternoon's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps - a fantastic 7.004 km circuit winding through the Ardennes countryside, where legends have raced since 1925.

A chaotic qualifying session produced a remarkable grid that is guaranteed to generate overtaking and close racing - especially in the early stages of the race as the pack sorts itself out.

Weather has also played a starring role this weekend. Rarely do we see a completely dry race weekend at Spa and this year is no exception. Rain has disrupted all four track sessions so far with the likelihood of more to come.

So settle back with us and enjoy the first of seven sprints towards the championship starting right here, at the world's finest grand prix circuit.