2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Hamilton's main concern will be his start, which hasn't been great over the last few races.

Hamilton was peerless in qualifying yesterday and is challenging for a second successive victory at this circuit.

Two DRS zones here, the first down the long back straight into Turn 8 with another chance to open the wing down the second stretch into 11.

Tyres

Pirelli's soft and medium compound are looking durable on the smooth Yas Marina circuit, with one stop the clear plan this afternoon.

Q3 drivers will be starting on the soft rubber, which does have a slightly more limited distance range than the harder tyres. A switch to the hard tyres is expected when the lap count reaches the late twenties.

Expect many of those outside the top 10 to opt for a long first stint with the harder tyres, making a switch to softs when the fuel load is reduced and more rubber has gone down on the track surface.

There is just five minutes remaining until the formation lap begins at Yas Marina.

There is an enormous scrum of reporters and photographers at the end of the pitlane surrounding Vettel's car. The German receives a word of encouragement from the sport's supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Alonso

It's a golden opportunity for Alonso to regain momentum in the title race. Despite starting sixth, the Spaniard has been fast and determined in recent races, so a podium finish is certainly possible.

A bold opening lap in India led to a fine second place, so look out for the championship challenger making up places with another quick start.

It won't be easy for Alonso to maximise his points haul though, with quick drivers including Button, Raikkonen and Maldonado ahead on the grid.

Vettel

Vettel's exclusion from the qualifying results meant he was shuffled to the back of the grid. Red Bull quickly decided to start the German from the pitlane for today's 55-lap encounter. Needless to say, he faces a long evening ahead on a circuit where overtaking has proved difficult.

Many fans have wondered how this will work, given the long, twisty nature of the pitlane and its unique exit through the tunnel. FIA race director Charlie Whiting confirmed earlier that he will switch the pit exit light to green once he can no longer see the field moving through Turn 1, allowing Vettel to get on with his job.

Starting from the pitlane has allowed Red Bull to change Vettel's gearbox and ratios, alter the suspension settings and reduce the downforce - all in an attempt to help him gain top speed and make overtaking his competitors easier.

Drivers begin to get themselves prepared with under 10 minutes to the formation lap.

Here's how the grid will line up: Pos Driver Team/Car 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 3. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 9. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 13. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 14. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 19. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth PIT Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault * * Qualifying times deleted due to insufficient fuel sample

An Etihad Airways Airbus A340 from the nearby airport provides a spectacular flypast over the grid.

Weather conditions are once again fine and dry as we approach the start of the race.

There was a slight concern yesterday that an increase in humidity could tip the balance for thundery showers to develop in the heat. Showers are indeed falling around the town of Tarif to the south-west of Abu Dhabi, but they are making no advance towards Yas Island so we are good to go for a dry race.

A stiffening north-westerly wind is again evident and air temperature has dipped slightly from today's high of 32 degrees Celsius.

Here's how the championship tables look with three rounds to go: World Championship standings, round 17: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 240 1. Red Bull-Renault 407 2. Alonso 227 2. Ferrari 316 3. Raikkonen 173 3. McLaren-Mercedes 306 4. Webber 167 4. Lotus-Renault 263 5. Hamilton 165 5. Mercedes 136 6. Button 141 6. Sauber-Ferrari 116 7. Rosberg 93 7. Force India-Mercedes 93 8. Grosjean 90 8. Williams-Renault 59

Hamilton

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage and rolling updates on today's potentially fascinating encounter. It's round 18 of the 2012 FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from Yas Marina.

Lewis Hamilton has shown himself to be the king of fast lap times around this circuit over the past few years. He produced another crushing display in qualifying to take pole by over three-tenths of a second, ahead of Mark Webber.

Sebastian Vettel qualified a solid third yesterday, but he was sensationally excluded from the results of the session more than four hours after it had concluded. Elevated to the inside of row two comes Pastor Maldonado, with Kimi Raikkonen fourth in the Lotus. Jenson Button is fifth in the other McLaren, while Vettel's challenger in the title race - Fernando Alonso - starts from sixth position.

Hamilton beats Webber to Abu Dhabi pole position

The race itself begins in just under 15 minutes' time, but before then we will take a check on the latest weather conditions, examine what the championship protagonists have to do this evening and give you a heads up on the likely tyre strategy for this all-important race.