2010 Spanish Grand Prix Race day at the Circuit de Catalunya

Lap 2: Sebastien Buemi has come into the pits at the end of lap one. Bruno Senna also appears to have stopped on the circuit.

Lap 2: That has worked out perfectly for Red Bull as its pair hold the lead into the second tour.

Lap 1: It's a clean start with little or no contact on the opening lap.

Lap 1: Through Campsa it is Webber from Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Schumacher

Lap 1: Mark Webber gets the jump on Vettel this time and he does hold the leading position into Turn 1.

Lap 1: The five red lights go out and we are racing in Spain!

All 23 cars are ready in position.

We await the lights ...

The front row is in position with Hamilton and Schumacher forming up.

Round the final corner and Webber makes the turn for home. Vettel is there behind him and the field begins to roll towards the grid.

Through Campsa they go and Webber slows it down coming into the tight Turn 10. The drivers are all warming up the tyres and brakes.

The 23 remaining drivers on the grid have all left their positions. Webber leads the snake through the opening complex of corners.

The formation lap begins and Mark Webber leads the pack away from the dummy grid.

Hamilton is focused in his McLaren from third on the grid. He'll be hoping to get among the Red Bulls off the start.

Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus has been wheeled into the pitlane just minutes before the start.

So far all of the drivers are down there. Now it depends on how they get away for the formation lap.

For the first time this year it looks like we will have all 24 cars taking the start from the grid itself.

Michael Schumacher was strapped into his Mercedes quite late. The German is looking to score good points today in the updated machine.

The polesitter is yet to triumph this season but Mark Webber clearly has a good chance to change that this afternoon.

The Spanish public address announcer is whipping the crowd up ahead of the start of the race.

There are just five minutes to go until the start of the formation lap at Montmelo.

Race director Charlie Whiting chats with Ross Brawn on the grid.

Ferandno Alonso steps into his Ferrari, fourth on the grid.

Vettel pulls on his helmet as he gets ready to start from second on the grid.

A one-minute silence is being respected by the spectators, in honour of Juan Antonio Samaranch - the former president of the International Olympic Committee, who died on April 21st. He was 89.

The fans at the Circuit de Catalunya rise in unison for the Catalan regional and Spanish national anthems as they play out over the public address system.

The pits are now closed, with 15 minutes before the formation lap.

It is a busy grid as mechanics make final preparations to the cars.

Michael Schumacher has taken up his sixth place on the grid and has stepped out of the Mercedes.

A strong breeze is fluttering the fans' flags in the grandstands and may be a factor in upsetting cars this afternoon.

Massa and Hamilton head out on exploratory laps, while Alonso pops through the pits to start another tour.

The weather remains fine and dry at the Circuit de Catalunya, with no chance of rain affecting the race.

Local and national radars show the nearest rain passing well away to the north-west and we are set for a dry and fairly bright 66 laps this afternoon.

The track temperature is 33 Celsisus, with a warm 21 degree ambient.

Fernando Alonso pulls out of the pitlane to the delight of the passionate crowd.

Vitaly Petrov and Pedro de la Rosa are on early laps to the grid.

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.

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.

Petrov could be spectacular from the back

Petrov could be spectacular from the back © Sutton
In the second half of the field there is a lot to look for this afternoon.

Passing is notoriously difficult at the Montmelo circuit, so bunching of cars in the early stages is very likely to provide close action. If the drivers lose their patience, then incidents will surely occur.

Rubens Barrichello starts the race from 17th and is slightly out of position after a poor qualifying. He will be looking to join the fight between the Toro Rosso pair, Hulkenberg, Sutil and the Saubers to get into the top ten.

Further back, Vitaly Petrov departs from the 19th spot. He should quickly overhaul Trulli's Lotus, and as we saw in both his GP2 career and in the recent Chinese Grand Prix, he has little fear when it comes to attacking more established drivers. Expect the Russian to go for any opportunity that presents itself.

At the back, it looks as though Virgin has the pace to out-race HRT, but Glock and Di Grassi will need to get their VR-01s to the chequered flag to establish a clear victory over the Spanish squad.

Red Bull are more than a nose ahead here

Red Bull are more than a nose ahead here © Sutton
After a dominant display from the upgraded Red Bull RB6 in qualifying, the rest of the field faces an uphill struggle to prevent a one-two finish from the Milton Keynes-based team.

"They [Red Bull Racing] have clearly had a quick car all year, but they haven't maximised the points in at least three of those races," said McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh. "Hopefully that gives us an opportunity, but Red Bull Racing will need to make some mistakes if we are going to challenge them tomorrow."

Webber versus Vettel could be sensational even if they run away from the field. The Australian will be mindful of what happened in Malaysia when he started on pole but left the door wide open to his team-mate going into the first corner.

Lewis Hamilton put in a herculean effort just to grab third on the grid and championship leader Jenson Button will be keen to make the podium to minimise his points loss. The pair are set for an interesting scrap this afternoon with home hero Fernando Alonso.

Michael Schumacher is much happier with the balance of the updated Mercedes weekend and is looking to kick-start his campaign with at least a top four finish.

Robert Kubica will be looking for another strong finish from seventh, while Massa was clearly disappointed with ninth and admitted struggling to find balance in his Ferrari.

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

The drivers' parade took place a short time ago in front of a packed crowd enjoying the dry conditions at the circuit.

A selection of classic cars greeted the drivers for their sedate tour and they seemed a lot happier with some space, rather than the traditional flatbed truck.

Most support was of course reserved for Ferrari star Fernando Alonso, but the locals also gave their cheers to Pedro de la Rosa and Jaime Alguersuari, with all three of them hoping to make it a great day for Spanish motorsport by finishing in the points.

Once the parade was concluded, the drivers headed back to the team hospitality units to make their final preparations for the race.

Edwards grabbed the lead off the start

A busy but clean start for the Supercup © Sutton
Briton Sean Edwards led the Porsche Supercup field to the flag in controversial finish as the series resumed in Spain. Edwards got the jump on polesitter Jeroen Bleekemolen off the start and led strongly during the opening stages.

Bleekemolen, the two-time champion, was right on the case of the leader by mid-distance and harried him over the final laps. He sent a bold move on Edwards at the quick Turn 7/8 chicane on the last lap and came out in the lead through Campsa. But Edwards was clearly not ready to give up on victory and launched an optimistic lunge back at the Dutchman down into Turn 10 - a move that ended with Bleekemolen spinning and Edwards sheepishly trailing home to take the flag.

Though Edwards lifted the winner's trophy on the podium, stewards launched an immediate investigation into the last lap antics and may ultimately punish the Briton for his punt on Bleekemolen, who ended up fourth.

Norbert Siedler and Patrick Huisman completed the podium, with Jaap van Lagen, Nick Tandy, Jan Seyffarth and Tim Bridgman filling out the top eight.