2012 Bahrain Grand Prix The Bahrain Grand Prix

Lap 2: Vettel is sprinting away up front and has a 2.2 second lead as they head into the second lap.

Lap 1: Heavy mid-grid packing in the opening corners but they all seemed to get through alright. Schumacher is up to 20th.

Lap 1: Button has been shuffled back to sixth after being crowded out into the first turn.

Lap 1: Through into the twisting middle part of the first lap it is Vettel from Hamtilton, Webber and fast starters Grosjean and Alonso.

Lap 1: Grosjean is up in a sensational fourth!

Lap 1: Vettel drops the hammer and it's a good start. Vettel leads into Turn 1 ahead of Hamilton and Webber.

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

He stops at the pole position slot and they are forming up nicely. Are you ready? We await the lights ...

Vettel is moving towards his grid slot and is backing the pack up behind him.

Vettel starts to pick up the pace a little as he continues down the penultimate straight and comes into the final corner.

It is actually only Kobayashi in the Sauber on the medium compound for the first stint.

Down through Turn 7 and into the tight right-hander at Turn 8 with Vettel taking them round rather slowly so far.

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

The engines fire with a minute to the formation lap.

Kovalainen is also on the harder Pirelli, with the rest of the field opting for soft rubber.

Kobayashi is set to start on the medium compound from 12th.

Michael Schumacher takes a drink to stock up on fluids. Despite the drop in temperature it will still be a hot and exhaustive race for the drivers.

Just one DRS zone available here, with the wing flap allowed to open down the main straight - giving an overtaking opportunity into Turn 1.

Track temperature is continuing to drop - now down to 32 degrees Celsius.

All 24 drivers are on the grid, as they receive final instructions and advice from the race engineers.

Just five minutes to go until the formation lap begins at Sakhir.

Tyres

Tyres will of course play a critical role in the strategy for today's race, with high degredation expected around the desert circuit.

The onset of cloud cover will help reduce track temperatures, while increasing grip levels always mean the track conditions improve as the race goes on.

Providing it doesn't rain significantly, a two or three stop plan look to be the options for completing the race, with drivers set to favour the more durable medium compound.

As demonstrated last week in China, a three stop strategy means emerging deep in traffic, requiring a lot of overtaking, meaning two stops could be worth the risk for anyone confident of holding off those on fresher rubber in the closing stages.

Five themes to watch for in Bahrain

Final preparations for the drivers now as they move towards the cars and get last-minute instructions from the race engineers.

Here's how the grid will line up this afternoon: Pos Driver Team/Car 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 6. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 11. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 15. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 16. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 19. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 20. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 21. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault * 22. Michael Schumacher Mercedes * 23. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth * Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change

Air temperature is 28 degrees and with a clouded sky that translates to a track surface temperature of 34 Celsius.

Weather conditions have changed considerably in the hours leading up to the race, with much more cloud around. At times it has even turned overcast.

There was even a short shower of light rain, but it didn't last too long and we start today's race with a dry track. Further showers are expected at the circuit, but only after the race.

Rain would need to be heavy to affect track condition, otherwise the high ambient temperature will quickly dry out any moisture.

A stiff northerly breeze means the drivers will face a head wind down the main straight - creating yet another factor in terms of DRS and overtaking.

The sparse crowd rises to stand as the Bahrain national anthem is played on the grid.

Here's how the championships look after the first three rounds: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Hamilton 45 1. McLaren-Mercedes 88 2. Button 43 2. Red Bull-Renault 64 3. Alonso 37 3. Ferrari 37 4. Webber 36 4. Sauber-Ferrari 31 5. Vettel 28 5. Mercedes 26 6. Rosberg 25 6. Lotus-Renault 24 7. Perez 22 7. Williams-Renault 18 8. Raikkonen 16 8. Force India-Mercedes 9

Bahrain qualifying

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round four of this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Bahrain Grand Prix from Sakhir.

Sebastian Vettel returned to the top of the sport yesterday in qualifying, grabbing his first pole of the season and the 31st of his career, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber and Jenson Button.

Nico Rosberg is fifth, but faces an uncertain first lap if he doesn't get away well, with Ricciardo, Grosjean and Perez all immediately behind him on the grid. Turn 1 could get tight between this group - particularly with a fast-starting Raikkonen coming up from 11th and likely to feature in the early exchanges.

Further down the list, it will be interesting to see whether Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher can score good points in today's 57-lap encounter.