2010 European Grand Prix Race day at Valencia

Round the final left hander and the Red Bull pair drive towards the front row of the grid. Vettel has taken them round slowly.

Schumacher is also going for harder rubber in the opening stint.

Down the back, the Lotus and Virgin drivers are trying an alternative strategy with the harder tyres for the start.

Vettel leads the rest of the cars round the marina and back towards the end of the lap.

The softer tyre is the choice of the field, with the strategists planning a switch to the harder option about 40 laps from the finish.

All 24 cars leave the grid without problem.

The formation lap begins at Valencia. Sebastian Vettel answers the call of the green light and leads the pack away from the dummy grid.

The engines begin to fire with a minute to go before the formation lap.

Fernando Alonso cools himself down with a fan just minutes before the off.

All 24 cars are on the grid with no problems so far. We have a full field ready to rock for 57 laps this afternoon.

The track temperature continues to edge up on this hot afternoon and is now 46 Celsius.

There is just five minutes to go until the formation lap begins at Valencia.

Robert Kubica is also wearing a cool vest to combat the high cockpit temperatures that will occur during the race.

Jenson Button walks onto the grid wearing a cool vest in the hot sunshine. Michael Schumacher puts his balaclava on as he gets ready for action.

If the safety car does appear, look out for opportunistic moves at the final corner, which is beyond the line where overtaking can begin.

The big Mercedes has been in frequent action during chaotic support races, so an intervention this afternoon certainly can't be ruled out.

Remarkably, the safety car has never been deployed in a Formula 1 race at this circuit.

The spectators remaining standing the Spanish national anthem 'Marcha Real' follows its European counterpart. The name Spain (España in Spanish) comes from the Latin name Hispania ...

The crowd rises for the European anthem - 'Ode to joy' - as it rings out around the Juan Carlos I marina in Valencia.

The pitlane is now closed. Any car not on the grid will be required to start the race from the pits, with no opportunity to check the car over during the formation lap.

The track temperature is 44 Celsius in the warm sunshine.

Felipe Massa stops at the back of the grid and is pushed to his fifth place starting slot by the mechanics.

The fashionable exhaust layout is of course something Red Bull introduced pre-season and other teams are scrambling to bring it to their cars

Red Bull technical guru Adrian Newey is patrolling the grid and is currently looking at the exhaust-driven diffuser solution on the Renault.

Alonso has also been for a run through the pitlane and is on a second lap to the grid.

Vettel has arrived at the grid and is being pushed through the crowds by his mechanics.

The Lotus cars are popping through the pitlane for a chance to practice a launch.

Massa is just ahead of Vettel on the road as they complete a tour around the circuit.

Polesitter Vettel pulls out of the Red Bull garage and heads out onto the circuit.

Alonso is on his run to the grid with soft tyres on his Ferrari.

The pitlane is now open for the the drivers to make their way around to the grid.

During the next 15 minutes, they have several jobs to undertake. Support races earlier this morning have changed the grip level, so each driver will want to quickly ascertain how hard he can push when it comes to the early laps of the race. Those drivers who have the exhaust-driven diffusers on their cars this weekend, may choose to perform a heat-soak test at the end of the pitlane.

They will check basic functions such the gearbox, drinks bottle and the all-important team radio.

The pitlane closes at 11:45 GMT. Any car not on the grid by then will be required to start from the pits.

A good weekend for Williams so far

A good weekend for Williams so far © Sutton
Williams has tried a few variations of the F-duct so far this season, but at Valencia the device helped the team to a much better qualifying result, with Nico Hulkenberg eighth on the grid and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello ninth.

The pair qualified in 15th and 17th positions at the Turkish Grand Prix, but yesterday's performance was much more encouraging. Hulkenberg should also be able to use the F-duct soon and, with an exhaust-driven diffuser planned for Silverstone, the FW32 could be set for another strong performance.

The team is confident of a decent result this afternoon to improve on a very limited points haul so far. Hulkenberg secured his first Formula 1 point for tenth at the Malaysian Grand Prix, while the experienced Barrichello has three points finishes to his credit from Bahrain, Australia and Spain.

Schumacher again finds himself deep in the pack

Schumacher again finds himself deep in the pack © Sutton
Continuing our look at the field, we move down to the 15th position and Michael Schumacher. The seven-time champion will have his work cut out on a track where overtaking - at least for Formula 1 cars - is extremely difficult.

Jaime Alguersuari starts directly behind Schumacher in 17th place and we already know how aggressive the young Spaniard can be. Don't be surprised to see the Toro Rosso trying a move on the Mercedes in the opening seconds of the race.

The battle between the three new teams is headed once again by Lotus, with Trulli out-qualifying Kovalainen for 19th place at the 500th race for the marque. The pair were 1.2 seconds clear of the Virgin versus HRT battle so should win the six-car race on pace alone, but Di Grassi, Glock, Chandhok and Senna are set for a long battle - one that could cause the leaders a fright or two during as the likes of Vettel, Webber and Hamilton come up to lap them on a circuit where it is very dusty off-line.

Red Bull must avoid a repeat of this

Red Bull must avoid a repeat of this © Sutton
Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber haven't run at the head of a Formula 1 field since the Turkish Grand Prix - and we all know what happened there ...

With the top ten all starting on super-soft tyres this afternoon, finding a strategy advantage on the competition is going to be a challenge.

Bridgestone confirmed on Friday that the option tyre was holding up very well after long runs and a one-stop race with a longer second stint on the harder tyre is the clear choice of the field, thanks in part to the slow 60 km/h pitlane speed limit.

The best chance to overtake will be at the start and Lewis Hamilton will want to hassle the Red Bulls when the lights go out. Fernando Alonso also needs a great getaway.

Robert Kubica has been the star of the weekend for many, but he's up against the best tyre conserver in the form of Button, starting seventh. Just outside the top ten, Nico Rosberg will also be one to watch as he bids to haul the Mercedes round to a good points finish.

Here's how the grid will line up this afternoon: Pos Driver Team 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 4. Alonso Ferrari 5. Massa Ferrari 6. Kubica Renault 7. Button McLaren-Mercedes 8. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 9. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 10. Petrov Renault 11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 12. Rosberg Mercedes 13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 14. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 15. Schumacher Mercedes 16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 22. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 24. Senna HRT-Cosworth

Rene Rast took his fourth win of the year

Rene Rast took his fourth win of the year © Porsche
Today's support programme ended with another win for Rene Rast in the Porsche Supercup.

The German started well from pole and comfortably held off grid second man Norbert Siedler through an opening sequence of corners that were remarkably free of the carnage evident so far this weekend.

Rast bolstered his march towards the championship with a comfortable 7.2 second margin by the flag, while title rival Jeroen Bleekemolen was unable to challenge Siedler and finished third.

Jaap van Lagen and Sean Edwards finished fourth and fifth and found themselves slipping back towards an entertaining mid-pack scrap, which ended with Stefan Rosina sixth, Patrick Huisman seventh and Nick Tandy completing the top eight.

Marcus Ericsson took his first GP2 win

Marcus Ericsson took his first GP2 win © Sutton
Marcus Ericsson kept his head under intense pressure to secure his first-ever GP2 win in today's sprint race at Valencia.

The Swede took the lead at the start by beating pole-sitter Michael Herck into the first corner, but faced a determined challenge from Giedo van der Garde, who started well and pushed Ericsson all the way to the flag.

Herck held on to third after a late scrap with Pastor Maldonado, while Charles Pic and Davide Valsecchi scored the final points.

Ericsson's triumph for Super Nova was overshadowed by a huge accident for team-mate Josef Kral. The Czech driver ran into the back of Arden's Rodolfo Gonzalez and was launched skyward before landing heavily and slamming into the Turn 17 barriers at high speed. He is reported to be conscious and complaining of pain in his back and right arm.

Ericsson win overshadowed by Kral crash

Nico Muller triumphed in GP3

Nico Muller triumphed in GP3 © Sutton
Jenzer Motorsport's Nico Muller won an eventful GP3 Series sprint race earlier this morning as the trend of incident-packed support events around Valencia continued.

The Swiss hooked up a lightning getaway to beat polesitter James Jakes off the line to lead into the first corner and was never troubled thereafter, eventually winning by 3.2 seconds.

Atech's Roberto Merhi was the man on a charge and he took second away from Jakes by mid distance but ran out of time to chase down Muller for the lead.

Points leader Esteban Gutierrez, who won on Saturday afternoon from Robert Wickens, found himself down in 14th by the flag after he was clattered by the Status driver on the first lap. Wickens was handed a drive through for causing the collision and finished 16th.

Muller wins eventful Valencia race

Fortec's Jack Harvey wrapped up his dominance of the Formula BMW Europe event in Valencia with his second win of the weekend this morning.

The Briton led home Robin Frijns by a comfortable 4.3 second margin in the 10-lap race that opened today's busy support programme.

The DAMS pair of Fahmi Ilyas and Javier Tarancon, who joined Harvey on the podium on Saturday, finished third and fourth, followed by Facundo Regalia and Timmy Hansen.