2012 Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix

Lap 2: The contact between Hamilton and Grosjean was the trigger for what followed. The Frenchman was then shoved into Perez and over Alonso.

Lap 2: Replays show that while Maldonado either made a jump start or a brilliant getaway, Hamilton nudged Grosjean on the run to La Source.

Lap 2: De la Rosa, Kobayashi and Maldonado all come into the pits. The Venezuelan made an amazing getaway and caught many drivers by surprise.

Lap 2: Button leads the cars through the huge debris field at the first corner as we await replays of the massive tangle.

Lap 2: Hamilton trudges back towards the pits. He is gutted.

Lap 2: Alonso, Hamilton, Perez and Grosjean are all out of this race. Sauber are ready for a stop.

Lap 2: The order is Button from Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, di resta, Schumacher and Ricciardo after a huge mix up at La Source.

Lap 1: Hamilton is involved with Alonso. Grosjean and Perez were also caught up in the crash at La Source.

Lap 1: The safety car has been deployed.

Lap 1: Button leads away from Raikkonen as it is carnage at the first corner.

Lap 1: Button leads into La source but we have a huge crash behind with several cars involved.

Lap 1: The five red lights go out and we are racing at Spa!

The front few rows are in position. A lot of brake smoke from Kobayashi's car. We await the lights ...

Button drops the pace now in order to get the field tight behind him. He doesn't want to be sitting waiting for a long time on the grid.

Teams will be carefully monitoring the degradation of the medium compound over the early laps to try and figure out a strategy.

On the run back home now and Button takes them through Blanchimont and up to the final chicane.

Raikkonen is told of the widespread choice of the softer tyres to start the race.

Dropping downhill through Rivage and on the run to the fearsome Pouhon double left-handers. Button is beginning to increase the pace.

Strong chance of a safety car here if there is contact off the start, which could give Rosberg an opportunity to pit for a change of tyres.

Through Eau Rouge they come and up the long Kemmel straight towards Les Combes.

The formation lap begins at Spa. Jenson Button answers the call to arms and leads the field of 24 away from the grid.

Early indications show that Hulkenberg and Rosberg are trying hard tyres for the start, with the rest of the field on medium compound.

The engines fire with a minute to the formation lap.

Final good luck wishes and handshakes on the grid now between drivers and their engineers - all hoping for a good race this afternoon.

A single DRS zone this afternoon, detected on the run to Eau Rouge before allowing the chasing driver a speed boost on the following straight.

A large Spa crowd is waiting eagerly from every vantage point around this spectacular, hilly 7.004 km circuit.

Plenty to be won or lost into the first corner here, with a tight inside line at the hairpin often working out well as contact spreads wide.

Just five minutes remaining until the formation lap begins at Sp-Francorchamps.

Widely tipped Raikkonen lines up a strong third on the grid and this could finally be the day for a Lotus win from the four-time Spa victor.

Alonso

Another step into the unknown for race strategists as Friday's soaked practice sessions continue to dent the regular flow of the race weekend.

Pirelli's medium compound tyre, the softer option here, produced the best speed in qualifying and will be the starting rubber for the top 10.

Despite the track conditions still evolving and warmer temperatures today, tyres are not expected to degrade too quickly here, meaning the medium compound could be the rubber of choice for the majority of the distance.

A start on the hard compound could be a wise gamble from those displaced drivers further down the order - quickly getting that stint out of the way while in traffic before a move to the softer rubber as the track improves.

Kobayashi lines up a brilliant second and team-mate Perez is fourth, with Sauber's C31 clearly well suited to this circuit.

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

Button was peerless in qualifying yesterday and looks confident as he prepares to climb aboard his low-downforce spec McLaren.

Weather conditions are again fine and dry as we build to the start of the race. There is still a good amount of sunshine around, but rather more cloud may drift over the circuit during today's 44-lap event.

However, it will remain dry with no chance of rain, a light, variable breeze and air temperature rising to the warmest it has been all weekend - 19 degrees Celsius.

Here's how the standings look at the end of the summer break: World Championship standings, round 11: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Alonso 164 1. Red Bull-Renault 246 2. Webber 124 2. McLaren-Mercedes 193 3. Vettel 122 3. Lotus-Renault 192 4. Hamilton 117 4. Ferrari 189 5. Raikkonen 116 5. Mercedes 106 6. Rosberg 77 6. Sauber-Ferrari 80 7. Grosjean 76 7. Williams-Renault 53 8. Button 76 8. Force India-Mercedes 46

Fans rise to stand as the Belgian national anthem rings out on the grid.

Button

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 12 in this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Belgian Grand Prix from Spa-Francorchamps.

Jenson Button upset the form book yesterday with a stunning display in all three qualifying segments, eventually grabbing his first pole position since joining McLaren with a magnificent lap of 1m47.573s.

But the Briton's return to prominence is just one of several talking points in an amazing grid. Kamui Kobayashi will start on the front row for the first time in his career. Can he get the jump on Button at the start? Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez will be hoping to stop them from row two.

Further back, we find the championship favourites. Fernando Alonso is only fifth after heading the final practice session, while Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are towards the back end of the top 10. Mark Webber will start from the outside of row six this afternoon. Michael Schumacher celebrates a landmark 300th event today, but the German will depart from the inside of row seven after a disappointing performance.