2011 Singapore Grand Prix The Singapore Grand Prix

Lap 2: Alguersuari hasn't made a great start on his soft tyre compound and runs in 18th.

Lap 2: Hamilton drops a further place to eighth after being passed by Schumacher.

Lap 1: Hamilton has made a woeful start and has dropped down to seventh.

Lap 1: Rattling through the Singapore Sling chicane for the first time it is Vettel from Button, Alonso, Webber and Massa.

Lap 1: Some squabbling at the ear of the pack but they all get round with no visible signs of damage thus far.

Lap 1: Vettel drops the clutch and gets away very well into Turn 1. Webber loses out and Button is through into second place.

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

The front few rows are formed up nicely with the rest now moving into position. Standby for blast off. We await the lights ...

Vettel turns for home and slowly moves towards his pole position slot.

Heading back towards the pits now and Vettel begins to slow the pack down through the twists and turns towards the end of the lap.

The cars are brim full of fuel for a very long race this evening.

Vettel blasts through the kink at Turn 6 and hits the big stop for Turn 7 as he continues to lead the pack round towards the grid.

Alguersuari, Kobayashi and Petrov will start on the harder compound down the field.

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

Di Resta has opted for a set of the harder compound rubber for his start from 10th on the grid.

The engines fire with a minute to the formation lap.

Cool air is continually blasted towards the drivers as they begin to roast gently in the cockpit. Vettel, with his eyes wide, concentrates on the job he has to do today.

A spectacular scene as the highly-illuminated circuit winds its way around the city-state, with cars being prepared for two hours of racing.

Track temperature has dipped to 34 degrees Celsius as we approach the start of the race.

There is just five minutes to go before the formation lap begins at Marina Bay.

Alonso dons his special golden helmet as he bids to win his third Singapore Grand Prix from fifth on the grid.

The radar is almost completely clear as we gear up for action, capping a weekend with no rain whatsoever.

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Just one DRS zone at this circuit, detected approaching Turn 5 - allowing drivers to attempt a pass along the curving stretch into Turn 7.

A long race is in prospect, with the 61 lap distance again set to test the bounds of the two-hour time limit.

A packed crowd around the circuit rises to respect the Singapore national anthem, as it is played out over the public address system.

The pitlane is now closed. Any driver not on the grid by now, will be required to start from the pitlane, once the field has taken the start

Tyres

With the return of Pirelli's supersoft tyre, three stops looks to be the common plan to complete tonight's long-duration encounter.

Deploying all three sets of supersoft rubber, leading drivers will need to sprint away from the pack to make up enough time for the trio of stops, making a late switch to the slower, but more durable, harder rubber.

One man who can't work with that plan is Lewis Hamilton, after picking up a puncture on his first set of supersoft rubber during Q2 yesterday. The McLaren driver is likely to attempt a two stop, hoping his long run to the flag on the harder rubber will work well as track conditions improve.

As ever, those on the fringes of the top 10 have more strategy options, with the Force India pair refusing to set a time in qualifying to preserve tyres and allow a free choice of starting compound. This midfield pack is likely to favour the two stop route, as they could struggle to gain the ground needed to make three stops work, particularly given the slow 60 kph pitlane speed limit.

With passing difficult around this twisting street circuit and incidents common, strategy engineers face a tough challenge to react to circumstances tonight - particularly if the safety car makes an almost inevitable appearance on track.

To a man, the drivers are trying everything possible to keep body temperature down. Efforts vary from ice towels to cool vests in the oppressive heat.

Kobayashi steers his repaired Sauber around the circuit to take up his place down in 17th on the grid.

Bernie Ecclestone appears on the grid with a group of local dignitaries.

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

Vettel arrives on the grid and climbs out to try and get cool before the start of the race.

Button has arrived at his third-place grid slot and has stepped out of the McLaren for his pre-race preparations.

Michael Schumacher is next to check the condition of his car, as he rounds the circuit.

Showers may have been a feature of the pre-weekend build-up, but since the start of first practice on Friday, not a single drop of rain has fallen over the circuit.

This trend has continued so far today, with partially cloudy skies and some sunny periods, as temperatures climbed to 32 degrees. The threat of showers this morning didn't materialise, leaving us dry and clear for tonight's 61-lap encounter.

Teams will remain on guard in case the weather does turn, but the radar is clear and we expect no rain during the race. Air temperature has dipped to 29 Celsius and with high humidity a tortuous two-hour race is on the cards.

Alonso is on track for checks to the Ferrari, followed by the team's favoured pass though the pitlane to make a practice start.

Sutil and polesitter Vettel head out to check the functions and handling on their cars ahead of tonight's battle.

Trulli joins the racetrack in his Lotus. Mike Gascoyne confirmed earlier that both Trulli and team-mate Kovalainen would complete just one lap to the grid.