2011 Hungarian Grand Prix The Hungarian Grand Prix

Pastor Maldonado looks relaxed on the grid as a slightly heavier pulse of rain moves in over the circuit.

Once again a tricky tyre choice for the engineers, who now have 10 minutes to bolt the first set of rubber on the cars.

A large crowd in the main grandstand rises to respect the Hungarian national anthem, as it is played out over the Hungaroring's public address system.

The pits are closed. Any driver not on the grid by now will be required to start today's race from the end of the pitlane after the start.

Drivers on the right-hand side of the grid are concerned about the drier asphalt left on the racing line by the GP2 and Porsche Supercup.

Meteo France tells the teams that light rain will continue into the start of the race.

Hamilton has parked his car on the front row and has stepped out to have a look at the track conditions where his car will launch.

Tyres

Another damp race morning will keep the race strategists pondering the best way to complete the 70 laps of the Hungaroring. With drizzle and showers keeping the track wet in places, teams will be rapidly rethinking their plans for what had been widely expected to be a dry race this afternoon.

Had it been fully dry, leading outfits planned to kick off the race on the super-soft rubber used in qualifying, before a switch to the more durable soft compound rubber for the majority of the distance. A more adventurous strategy would see the use of super-soft tyres for the first few stints, at the expense of even more pit visits.

While the super-soft does provide good one-lap pace, its durability - particularly in these greasy conditions - is a major question mark. But, with cooler-than-expected temperatures, teams could deploy the softer compound if and when things dry up enough for slicks.

Should the race begin on wet-weather tyres, that will cancel out the requirement to start on qualifying rubber or use both compounds in the race, handing extra strategic flexibility to the teams.

Button tells the BBC that the track is very slippery.

Polesitter Sebastian Vettel has arrived on the grid. He is pushed to pole position by his mechanics.

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

Michael Schumacher - once hailed as the rain master himself - heads round the circuit in the Mercedes. He starts ninth today.

Heidfeld visits the damp Renault pitbox for a change of rubber before a further tour around to the grid.

Button heads out of the McLaren garage and around to take up position on the grid ahead of his 200th grand prix start.

Ferrari is now changing the front wing on Massa's car, perhaps as a precaution after that minor off.

Despite all forecasts and numerical models pointing to a dry race, rain arrived this morning for the support races and patchy showers continue to feed in from the border with Slovakia.

The track is damp and we expect this feed of showers to continue at least until the start of the race - and possibly beyond. Memories of the astounding race here in 2006 are not far away.

Temperatures are down on yesterday's values, with a maximum ambient of just 20 degrees this afternoon - conditions that are heaven sent for Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button.

Kamui Kobayashi works his way through a reconnaissance lap towards the grid.

Massa has found conditions tricky already, running wide at Turn 4 and on to the run-off.

Hamilton heads out with intermediate rubber on his McLaren to check the conditions before taking up his place on the front row.

Damp conditions around the circuit at the moment, ideally suited to the intermediate tyre.

Felipe Massa takes his Ferrari round to check track conditions.

Here's a reminder of the standings just after the half-way point of the season: World Championship standings, round 10: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 216 1. Red Bull-Renault 355 2. Webber 139 2. McLaren-Mercedes 243 3. Hamilton 134 3. Ferrari 192 4. Alonso 130 4. Mercedes 78 5. Button 109 5. Renault 66 6. Massa 62 6. Sauber-Ferrari 35

The pitlane is now open, allowing drivers to make their way round to the grid and check out track conditions. Several laps are expected.

Vettel

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 11 in this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Hungarian Grand Prix from the Hungaroring.

Sebastian Vettel bounced back from a difficult Friday to claim a sensational last-gasp pole position and dent Lewis Hamilton's hopes of breaking the Red Bull qualifying stranglehold.

A fit and healthy Jenson Button starts from third, followed by the Ferrari drivers, with Mark Webber a disappointed sixth and at a loss to explain what happened in the final shootout.

The race itself starts at 12:00 GMT, but before then we will update you with what's happening as the cars head to the grid, take a look at the latest weather forecast and how the teams will manage tyre strategy today.