2011 British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix

Webber slots into pole position and the grid is forming up nicely. Dry in some places - wet in others. We await the lights ...

Webber rounds the Vale and turns for home, with the field in tow behind him.

However, it is bone dry at the start-finish straight. Webber works his way through Becketts and onto the Hangar straight.

Intermediates look to be the choice of the field but those tyres won't last long on the drier parts of the circuit.

Past the old pits and into Copse, the drivers are throwing up an enormous amount of spray.

All 24 drivers leave the grid without problem and Webber leads the pack down the Wellington straight.

The formation lap begins at Silverstone and Mark Webber leads the field of 24 away from the grid.

Button, Massa and Alonso match the conservative tyre choice.

Polesitter Webber has intermediate tyres on his Red Bull.

The engines fire with a minute to the formation lap.

A light shower is developing just a couple of miles to the south of the circuit.

Paul di Resta receives final instructions from his race engineer, as he gets ready for battle this afternoon. He starts from sixth.

Tyres now fitted to the cars, with the teams' choices to be revealed when the blankets come off in a couple of minutes.

Both he and team-mate Webber are leaving putting their gloves on until the last possible moment.

Sebastian Vettel has climbed into the cockpit of his Red Bull Renault.

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

Christian Horner is in conversation with Formula 1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone on the grid.

Hazy sunshine overhead on the grid now, with the track drying - boosting the thoughts of a gamble on slick tyres.

A handful of marshals are sweeping parts of the circuit, as further dark clouds loom in the distance.

Keep up to speed with our minute-by-minute commentary on the move with the AUTOSPORT app.

On a train? In an airport? No TV? Get the AUTOSPORT Live experience optimised for your iPhone and - new for 2011 - Android:

The AUTOSPORT app

Despite the near-dry conditions on the grid, it looks difficult to navigate the quick sections of the circuit on slick rubber at the moment.

Tyres

In the unlikely scenario that the race stays dry, paddock intuition suggests three stops is a likely plan this afternoon, but teams head into this race with an unusual lack of tyre performance data after rain-affected sessions throughout the event so far.

Soft rubber is clearly the quicker option, so outfits will want their drivers to spend as much of the race on the three sets of that compound, before a late run on the hard rubber when the track conditions are at their best.

On a relatively green circuit, with high-speed sections likely to take its toll on the rubber - and a new pitlane that is a significant short-cut compared to the race track - four stops is even a realistic strategy for a fully-dry race.

The now-classic "getting the hard tyres out of the way early" strategy could also be employed by someone out of position in the field - Lewis Hamilton for example - meaning a longer first stint to clear traffic before ending the race with the quicker soft rubber when rivals have switched to the hard.

High tension on the grid with a very tricky call on tyres to be made here with the differing track conditions at each end of the circuit.

A capacity 120,000 crowd rises in unison to respect the national anthem - God Save the Queen - as it rings out over Silverstone.

The pitlane is now closed. Any driver not on the grid by now will have to start this afternoon's race from the pit exit.

Perez is heading out in the repaired Sauber for a second attempt to make it to the grid.

Perez has returned to the Sauber garage for repairs to a damaged front wing after his off at Turn 14, Becketts, on his lap to the grid.

Fans

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.

• How will Daniel Ricciardo fare in his debut outing for Hispania? The Australian starts from 24th on the grid.

• Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado start from a fantastic sixth and seventh on the grid. Can they finish well inside the top 10 today?

• Do you feel that the Ferrari drivers can take the challenge to Webber and Vettel over the race distance?

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.

Another shower is building just to the west of the circuit. It may arrive before the start of the race.

The track is almost dry on the grid but Button tells the BBC that it is full wet conditions at the opposite end of the circuit.

Perez has been off track on his route to the grid and will be heading back to the Sauber garage for the car to be checked over.

Mark Webber has arrived on the grid. He is pushed through the throng and into pole position by a the Red Bull mechanics.

Here is the grid line-up for today's race: Pos Driver Team 1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 7. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 8. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 10. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 13. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 14. Vitaly Petrov Renault 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 16. Nick Heidfeld Renault 17. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 18. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 21. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth

Intermediates are the tyres of choice for these installation laps.

Both Virgin drivers are now on their reconnaissance laps to the grid. They are set for a race-long battle with HRT this afternoon.

Shock horror this morning as sunshine shone down on the spectators during the support races, after two days of showers - but the story is far from over.

Showers have been building over the last hour across much of central and southern England and they will continue to gather this afternoon.

Air temperature is approaching today's maximum of 21 Celsius, while a light breeze is blowing from the west.

Sebastian Vettel rolls out onto the circuit. Conditions are certainly a lot more damp around the old pits area, through Copse and Becketts.

Jarno Trulli heads out in the Lotus to check out the track conditions. He starts from 21st on the grid this afternoon.

Here's a reminder of the standings after eight rounds of the campaign: World Championship standings, round 8: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Sebastian Vettel 186 1. Red Bull-Renault 295 2. Jenson Button 109 2. McLaren-Mercedes 206 3. Mark Webber 109 3. Ferrari 129 4. Lewis Hamilton 97 4. Renault 61 5. Fernando Alonso 87 5. Mercedes 58 6. Felipe Massa 42 6. Sauber-Ferrari 27

The pitlane is now open for the drivers to make their reconnaissance laps to the grid. Several laps are expected for each driver.