2012 Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix

Lap 1: There's contact and Vettel is in it! Disaster for the points leader.

Lap 1: The track is greasy and Vettel has been involved in a shunt!

Lap 1: Hamilton leads from a fast starting Massa and Button.

Lap 1: Hamilton gets a great start and leads with Massa challenging Button into Turn 1 and the Senna S.

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

The front few rows are in position and the pack is forming up nicely. Are you ready? We await the lights...

Light drops still falling. Hamilton slows them down as he heads for pole position.

Hamilton rounds Juncao and takes them up the hill towards the grid.

Through the Ferradura and round the infield come the pack as they desperately try to generate heat into their tyres on the cool circuit.

All nerves ahead of a potentially explosive first corner, with the ongoing light shower adding to the tension.

All 24 drivers got away and Hamilton is leading them out of Turn 4.

The formation lap begins at Interlagos. Lewis Hamilton leads the field of 24 away from the grid.

Still some light drizzle falling as the blankets come off and the engines fire with a minute to go.

Early indications are that Schumacher, Kobayashi and Grosjean are starting on the hard tyres, with the rest on the medium Pirelli.

Grid being cleared now with the final choice of dry rubber bolted on the cars.

Schumacher waves to the TV cameras, as he prepares to put his racing gloves on for the last time in Formula 1.

Hamilton, who doesn't have a great record here despite taking the title in remarkable circumstances in 2008, looks ready to lead them away.

Vettel is warned by his race engineer that the track could be greasy, but that the race is meant to be dry.

Only one DRS zone at this circuit, with the chasing driver's wing allowed to open down the relatively short straight into Turn 4.

There are just five minutes to go until the formation lap begins at Interlagos.

Despite the light rainfall, dry tyres are still the choice of the grid as the final deadline to change wheels approaches.

Schumacher

With the latest weather update pointing to dry conditions, teams are now plotting the best strategy for today's 71 laps on the medium and hard slick tyres.

The overcast conditions are helpful, with the concerns of thermal degradation after Friday's baking practice eased by significantly lower track temperatures.

Two stops still looks like a safe bet for leading teams, but strategists will surely be contemplating the switch to a one-stopper if the initial set of rubber survives the opening laps when the cars are heavy with fuel.

Still odd spots of drizzle in the air as drivers begin to climb aboard the cars for the final time this year.

Alonso, who needs a podium finish today to overcome Vettel's current points lead, looks calm as he chats with Ferrari engineers.

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

A tense atmosphere on the grid as teams ready the cars for the title decider, with threatening skies above despite the clear radar images.

Heavy overnight showers have resulted in a green racetrack for the drivers to work with this afternoon, but there has been no further rain since 08:00.

It is overcast, but the radar is clear with no incoming showers. If some darker cloud rolls in then there may be some light drizzle at times, but it now looks as though the championship decider will take place in dry and cool conditions, with a maximum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius.

The fervent crowd rises as the Brazilian national anthem is played.

Here's how the standings look heading into the title decider: World Championship standings, round 19: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 273 1. Red Bull-Renault 440 2. Alonso 260 2. Ferrari 367 3. Raikkonen 206 3. McLaren-Mercedes 353 4. Hamilton 190 4. Lotus-Renault 302 5. Webber 167 5. Mercedes 136 6. Button 163 6. Sauber-Ferrari 124 7. Massa 107 7. Force India-Mercedes 99 8. Grosjean 96 8. Williams-Renault 76 And this is how the drivers' battle can be won:

CHAMPIONSHIP PERMUTATIONS

VETTEL WINS THE TITLE IF:

- He finishes in the top four
- He finishes fifth, sixth or seventh and Alonso doesn't win
- He finishes eighth or ninth and Alonso is third or lower
- He finishes 10th or worse and Alonso isn't on the podium

ALONSO WINS THE TITLE IF:

- He wins and Vettel is fifth or lower
- He is second and Vettel eighth or lower
- He is third and Vettel is 10th or lower

The F1 season may end today, but the stars of world motorsport will be out in force next Sunday for the annual AUTOSPORT Awards. Join us then for live coverage from the Grosvenor House hotel in central London.

Vettel vs Alonso

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for the final chapter of what has been a memorable Formula 1 season. The stage is set for Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to battle it out for the 2012 title - it's the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Lewis Hamilton stole the thunder from the championship protagonists yesterday with a fine lap of 1m12.458s to claim pole position for today's 71-lap encounter. The Briton edged out McLaren team-mate Jenson Button by one-tenth of a second, with Mark Webber a slightly surprising third, ahead of Vettel.

So the points leader departs from the outside of row two today. Felipe Massa is fifth in the leading Ferrari, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in sixth spot. Alonso is seventh on the grid - promoted one spot after Pastor Maldonado was given a 10-place grid penalty for missing the red light at the FIA weigh bridge at the end of Q2.

Hamilton leads all-McLaren front row

We are set for a fantastic duel with high tension. In around two hours from now, either Vettel or Alonso will be able to call themselves triple world champion and we can't wait for the action to begin.