2010 Brazilian Grand Prix Race day at Interlagos

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Fans are packed into Interlagos today

Fans are packed into Interlagos today © Sutton
Motor racing fans love to debate the action on track and the live forum is your opportunity to share your experiences of the Formula 1 weekend with everyone.

• How long will Nico Hulkenberg keep hold of the race lead?

• Will Fernando Alonso wrap up the championship today?

• Do you think Red Bull will claim the constructors crown today with undoubtedly the fastest car in the sport?

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It's all change on the weather front, with yesterday's showers moving away to the north-east corner of Brazil, leaving Interlagos dry and basking in warm sunshine.

Temperatures are recovering well and we expect a maximum of around 26 Celsius this afternoon while the track could rise to well over 40 degrees.

Convective energy values in the atmosphere are low today so there is no chance of the warm sunny conditions bringing about the threat of a thunderstorm.

Alonso is defending the points lead

Alonso is defending the points lead © Sutton 14:45 Fernando Alonso's victory in the darkness of Korea two weeks ago puts him in the driving seat in the drivers' championship with an 11-point lead over Mark Webber. If the Spaniard is able to repeat that performance at Interlagos - a challenge from fifth on the grid - then Webber must finish in the top four to take the battle down to the final round at Abu Dhabi next weekend.

Four podiums on the trot has transformed Alonso's total, but a DNF or any mishap during today's race could change the situation completely. Lewis Hamilton is 21 points adrift in third spot, with Vettel a further four points behind. Both drivers must go for broke this weekend in an effort to beat the Ferrari. While Jenson Button is still mathematically in contention, it is almost certain he will out of the reckoning today unless something miraculous happens.

The constructors' title is still between the top three teams and they are covered by 52 points. Red Bull Racing could clinch the championship this weekend if both drivers finish on the podium, but that is another fight that could go down to the wire.

A tasty battle has been simmering between Force India and Williams for sixth over the last few races. With the Williams pair lining up in the top six and Force India's men way down the order, it looks promising for the Grove-based team this afternoon. World Championship standings, round 17: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Alonso 231 1. Red Bull-Renault 426 2. Webber 220 2. McLaren-Mercedes 399 3. Hamilton 210 3. Ferrari 374 4. Vettel 206 4. Mercedes 188 5. Button 189 5. Renault 143 6. Massa 143 6. Force India-Mercedes 68 7. Kubica 124 7. Williams-Cosworth 65 8. Rosberg 122 8. Sauber-Ferrari 43 9. Schumacher 66 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 10. Barrichello 47

Di Grassi was too fast in the pitlane

Di Grassi was too fast in the pitlane © Sutton
Johnny Herbert is once again the driver representative on the FIA stewards panel at Interlagos. After a series of incident-packed qualifying sessions, yesterday was surprisingly trouble-free:

• Lucas di Grassi was clocked at 104.8 km/h during the first period of qualifying and the Brazilian was subsequently fined €1000.

• Race director Charlie Whiting referred an incident between Sebastien Buemi and Nico Rosberg to the stewards. Having heard evidence from both drivers and their team representatives and looked at the telemetry data from both cars, the stewards decided that no penalty should be imposed.

• Buemi was already coming into this event with a penalty hanging over his head, having crashed into the side of Timo Glock's Virgin during the wet Korean Grand Prix two weeks ago. The Swiss driver carries a five place grid penalty into today's race and will start 19th.

• Adrian Sutil is also carrying a similar penalty after losing control of his Force India at Yeongam and side-swiping into Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber. He is demoted to 22nd.

Hulkenberg celebrates a dominant pole

Hulkenberg celebrates a dominant pole © LAT
Weather conditions intervened on Saturday as heavy showers soaked the circuit for the final practice and qualifying session.

The drying track surface created plenty of drama from the start when the Force India drivers got in each other's way, as Liuzzi recovered from a spin at Juncao and dented the progress of his team-mate Adrian Sutil. The German was desperately disappointed to be eliminated in 18th position after the first period, along with the customary six drivers from the three new teams.

More shocks followed, as championship outsider Jenson Button failed to make it through to the shootout by 0.088s, having suffered set-up issues with his McLaren Mercedes all weekend. He joined Kobayashi, Rosberg, Alguersuari, Buemi, Heidfeld and Liuzzi on the sidelines.

That left the quickest 10 drivers to fight over the top positions on the grid in the shootout as the track dried rapidly. Everybody completed the first run on intermediate tyres, and Lewis Hamilton set the early benchmark, but as they all rushed in for super-soft tyres with a handful of minutes to go, it was clear that there was more to come.

Robert Kubica and Mark Webber blew their chances of pole position with minor incidents at Juncao and subsequently lost all tyre temperature, while Williams and Nico Hulkenberg timed the final run to perfection to give the young German three timed laps to everyone else's two.

Hulkenberg shot to the front of the field with his first attempt, but Hamilton quickly pegged him back. Under extreme pressure the Williams driver retaliated with a lap of 1m15.462s as pole position changed hands four times in the final 75 seconds.

One by one the contenders crossed the line on their final lap but neither Vettel, Webber, Hamilton or Alonso could match Hulkenberg's stunning time. With the extra lap in his pocket. Hulkenberg was able to lower the benchmark even further to take pole by over one second at the end of a great session.

Hulkenberg takes shock pole in Brazil

Interlagos is ready for another title battle

Interlagos is ready for another title battle © Sutton
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for blow by blow coverage of the penultimate round in this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Brazilian Grand Prix from Interlagos.

Nico Hulkenberg upset the apple cart yesterday with a sensational pole position to leave the championship contenders in the shade and score Williams' first pole since the 2005 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

A huge crowd of enthusiastic Paulistas is filling the grandstands all around the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace and will give great support to the two Brazilians starting inside the top 10 for today's 71-lap race.

But, up front, it is the championship battle that the watching world will be focused on. Fernando Alonso has the opportunity to wrap up his third title this afternoon, but the Spaniard starts from fifth position and has three of his main championship rivals ahead of him on the grid, with many hoping that the fight will be taken down to the wire at Abu Dhabi next weekend.

The race itself begins at 16:00 GMT, but before then we will set the scene by reviewing yesterday's qualifying session, update you on today's weather conditions and focus on some of the major talking points heading into the race.