2012 Indian Grand Prix The Indian Grand Prix

Lap 4: Alonso opens the DRS and breezes past Button to take third place.

Lap 4: Behind the top eight, Hulkenberg is up to ninth after a decent start and Rosberg is maintaining 10th. Maldonado is 11th with Grosjean 12th.

Lap 3: Alonso is eying the gearbox of Button's McLaren and the Ferrari looks strong down the long back straight.

Lap 3: DRS is now available but the Red Bull pair are already well clear out front.

Lap 3: Schumacher gets that shredded right rear changed and he is back underway again. It would seem as though Vergne tagged Schumacher's right rear corner in the opening exchanges.

Lap 3: Massa remains sixth, with Raikkonen seventh and Perez eighth.

Lap 2: Vergne gets away as we wait for Schumacher to appear.

Lap 2: Meanwhile, Vettel leads into the second tour by 1.2 seconds from Webber.

Lap 2: Vergne is also in trouble and he brings the Toro Rosso in for some work.

Lap 2: Schumacher is down to last position and making his way towards the pits.

Lap 2: Great racing between Alonso and the McLaren pair, with Button ending up ahead of the Spaniard and Hamilton demoted to fifth.

Lap 2: Schumacher is reportedly touring back to the pits with a puncture.

Lap 1: A clean start behind the leading protagonists as the McLarens and Alonso are embroiled in an almighty scrap round the first lap.

Lap 1: Through into the twisty middle section for the first time it is Vettel from Webber and a mighty scrap between Button, Alonso and Hamilton.

Lap 1: Vettel gets away well and leads ahead of Webber and the two McLaren drivers into Turn 1.

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

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

Up to the final corner now and the polesitter makes the turn for home, as he backs the field up to keep them as tight as possible.

Through the middle section of the track now and Vettel is taking them round at a reasonable pace.

All 24 drivers have left the grid without problem, as Vettel heads down the straight between Turns 3 and 4.

Grosjean, Schumacher, Ricciardo and Kobayashi have opted for the harder tyre to start the race.

The formation lap begins at the Buddh International Circuit. Vettel answers the call and leads the field away from the grid.

The engines fire with a minute to the formation lap.

Webber puts on his gloves and gets ready for the challenge ahead. Can he get revenge on Vettel and take the lead from him into Turn 1?

Two DRS zones available here, allowing the chasing driver to open the wing down the pit straight and the long back stretch into Turn 4.

It's the third row for Alonso and Massa in the Ferraris, which has been a strong race car in recent events.

McLaren's pair of Hamilton and Button are the closest challengers from the second row, with race pace on Friday giving the team some hope.

There are five minutes remaining until the formation lap begins at the Buddh International Circuit.

Vettel and Webber lock out the front row for Red Bull, with the RB8 again looking difficult to beat this weekend.

Drivers beginning to get into the cars now with seven minutes to the formation lap.

Pic

Soft and hard tyres are the order of the weekend, with both compounds proving durable as outfits become ever more knowledgeable about getting the best from this year's Pirellis.

One stop is a possibility today, but the racier strategy from the front could be for two tyre changes, with the Q3 drivers forced to start on the softer rubber.

Those with a free choice of starting compound could make a dent today, running long in the first stint to gain track position, with the likes of Romain Grosjean a prime candidate for the alternative strategy from 11th on the grid.

With no penalties issued this weekend, the grid lines up in qualifying order: 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 9. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 13. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 24. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth

Weather conditions are a repeat over what we have seen over the last few days. It is dry and increasingly warm with a light north-westerly breeze.

Air temperature is up to today's projected maximum of 30 degrees, while down on the track surface 38 or 39 Celsius will be the top temperature at the start of the race, perhaps dropping down a click or two over the final laps.

Here's how the standings look with four races remaining: World Championship standings, round 16: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 215 1. Red Bull-Renault 367 2. Alonso 209 2. Ferrari 290 3. Raikkonen 167 3. McLaren-Mercedes 284 4. Hamilton 153 4. Lotus-Renault 255 5. Webber 152 5. Mercedes 136 6. Button 131 6. Sauber-Ferrari 116 7. Rosberg 93 7. Force India-Mercedes 89 8. Grosjean 88 8. Williams-Renault 58

Vettel

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 17 in this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Indian Grand Prix from the 5.137km Buddh International Circuit.

Sebastian Vettel is the only man to claim pole position at this venue and the German produced 1m25.283s yesterday in qualifying to edge out team-mate Mark Webber by 0.044s, with McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button lining up on row two of the grid.

Fernando Alonso is fifth ahead of Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa and the Spaniard has a lot to do from there if he is to maintain close contact with Vettel in the championship race.

Vettel leads Red Bull front row lockout in India

We are set for 60 racing laps this afternoon and the hope of many fans is that someone can get ahead of the Red Bull pair at the start and keep the early stint close - preventing Vettel and Webber running away with it.