2011 Malaysian Grand Prix The Malaysian Grand Prix

Lap 6: Massa has dived past Petrov and is up to fifth.

Lap 5: Vettel now has a 3.2 second lead over Heidfeld, with Hamilton still not troubling the German from third.

Lap 5: A fresh set of soft tyres and Barrichello is away again, but he has lost a lot of ground.

Lap 5: Sutil exits the pits after a short stop. He is 23rd as Barrichello limps into the pitlane to get the puncture sorted.

Lap 4: Alonso was boxed in by the McLarens and Renaults, while team-mate Massa slipped by. The Spaniard is now seventh.

Lap 4: Kobayashi has got back past Webber for a second time and is now ninth, as Sutil pits the Force India.

Lap 4: Replays show Heidfeld was perfectly placed to take opportunity around the outside of Turn 1, slotting in second as Petrov grabbed fifth.

Lap 4: Barrichello is last and touring back to the pits slowly.

Lap 4: Hamilton and Button are not currently mounting a strong challenge on Heidfeld, but the DRS device is now available if they get close.

Lap 3: Maldonado and Perez make contact at Turn 1, as Barrichello slows with a possible puncture. He's 17th and dropping down the field.

Lap 3: Vettel's lead is up to 2.4 seconds as Heidfeld slowly falls away from the back of the Red Bull.

Lap 3: Rosberg is 13th and has had to fend off an attack already from Paul di Resta. The Scot is 14th with Sutil 15th and Perez 16th.

Lap 2: Schumacher has made a decent start and is up to eighth, with Webber ninth, Kobayashi 10th, Alguersuari 11th and Buemi 12th.

Lap 2: Vettel has a 1.9 second lead from the strong-starting Heidfeld, who is chased by Hamilton's McLaren.

Lap 2: Webber starts pulling back what fate has taken away. He re-passes Kobayashi for ninth going into the final corner.

Lap 2: All kinds of moves off the start there as the different KERS come into play.

Lap 1: It's a clean start but Webber has had a shocker. He's down in ninth place and dropping further down the order.

Lap 1: Vettel leads from Heidfeld, Hamilton, Button, Petrov and Massa as they head around the back of the circuit for the first time.

Lap 1: Vettel moves away and gets a better run than Hamilton. Heidfeld makes a great lunge into second at Turn 2 with Hamilton third.

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

The front few rows are nicely in position and we anticipate an action-packed start. We await the lights ...

Vettel turns for home and does a burnout on his way to pole position.

The drivers are unable to use the DRS wing for the first two laps of the race.

Dark clouds loom as they move through Turn 14 and onto the back straight.

Vettel leads them through the opening tight corners and out through the sweepers of Turns 5 and 6.

The formation lap begins at Sepang and Sebastian Vettel leads the field of 24 away from the grid.

The engines fire with a minute to the formation lap.

The drivers are having cool air pumped into the cockpit with moments to go. Many of them are leaving their gloves off for as long as possible.

Dry tyres are being fitted to the cars with no rain expected to reach the circuit for the start.

The formation lap for the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix is now just five minutes away.

After two laps are completed, half points will be awarded if the race stops and can't be restarted before 42 laps are in the books.

Conditions remain dry at the circuit but odd spots of rain have been falling over the last 20 minutes. Convective storms are developing all the while just to the east of the circuit and rain is almost certain.

Red Bull designer Adrian Newey is busy taking notes on the grid.

We hear Pirelli's weather man thinks that the rain will hold off a little longer to allow a dry start.

Tyres

Most teams are expecting to stop three times today in the unlikely event that the circuit remains dry. The top ten drivers are locked in to starting on the softer tyre, after using it in Q3 yesterday, and this may begin to be a handful after just ten laps on a full tank of fuel.

Those outside the top ten may opt for the harder tyre, with the chance that could give the opportunity for a two-stop race after a longer first stint. AUTOSPORT understands that Toro Rosso favours this strategy from 12th and 13th on the grid.

Later stints will see reduced degradation as the fuel load burns down, but it remains a strategic challenge the likes of which hasn't been seen since Canada last year.

That's before the weather is taken into account. Given the high chance of thunderstorms, it's quite likely Pirelli's intermediate and full wet rubber will be deployed. The drivers have limited experience on the wet rubber, with only a few occasions where conditions were suitable for testing it at Barcelona.

Those drivers who did run during the mornings where the Circuit de Catalunya was drying may have some advantage in knowing when to switch tyres if there is a drying situation this afternoon.

The teams are busily preparing all types of tyres on the grid, with the weather looking ever more likely to interrupt the strategy plans.

A good crowd is on hand at Sepang and the spectators rise in unison to respect the Malaysian national anthem, as it is played out over the public address system.

The pitlane has closed. Any car not on the grid by now will be required to start today's 56-lap race from the pitlane, after the field has left 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.

• Do you want to see a wet or dry race this afternoon, given the closeness of competition at the front?

• Assuming the race runs the full distance, do you expect Red Bull or McLaren to come out on top?

• From outside the top 10, who do you think can score points this afternoon? Michael Schumacher is an obvious candidate and Rubens Barrichello is always one to watch in wet conditions.

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.

Jenson Button climbs out of his McLaren and starts to discuss the complex strategy picture with his engineers.