2012 Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix

Hamilton stops at his pole position slot and the field is forming up very slowly behind him.

Round the Parabolica and the leading cars head down towards the grid. We are set for 53 racing laps this afternoon.

Hamilton leaves the Ascari chicane and makes the run down towards Parabolica.

Vettel is informed over the radio that his gearbox is good, but he needs to work on engine cooling.

All 24 drivers have left the grid without problem, as Hamilton leads the pack through the Curva Grande and down to the Roggia chicane.

The formation lap begins at Monza. Hamilton answers the call and leads the field of 24 away from the grid.

Early indications are that Perez, d'Ambrosio, Maldonado and Hulkenberg will start on harder rubber.

Banned Romain Grosjean watches on from the Lotus garage as tester Jerome D'Ambrosio prepares to race his car this afternoon.

Michael Schumacher puts on his gloves as he gets ready for battle this afternoon, from fourth on the grid.

The top 10 drivers are locked into a start on the medium compound, with some in the second half of the pack likely to try the hard.

Double DRS is on offer here, with wings opening on the long runs to the Rettifilo and Ascari chicanes.

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

But all eyes will be on Alonso to see how the ever-impressive Spaniard can recover from suspension problems in qualifying yesterday.

Massa starts third in the Ferrari and needs a great result in front of the tifosi to boost his chances of remaining with the Italian team.

Tyres

Pirelli's medium and hard compound tyres are on offer this afternoon, with the rubber proving durable around this circuit despite high track temperatures in the Monza sunshine.

One stop looks like a plan for most, but teams are concerned that - despite very little degradation in tyre performance - the rubber could simply wear away given the lengthy stints required to complete half the race on each set.

Recent races have trended towards as fewer stops as possible being the winning strategy. Teams will be monitoring wear very closesly and two pitstops is a strong plan B - certainly a safer prospect for anyone who can pull well clear of the midfield traffic.

Teams expect Monza strategy dilemma

Button can also get right into the title race if he can back up his commanding Spa win with another strong afternoon here.

Hamilton will want to maximise his points haul after that costly first corner exit in Spa, particularly with Alonso starting down the order.

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

Final preparations for the McLaren pair on the front row, with little in it between Hamilton and Button in qualifying yesterday.

Conditions are fine and dry - as they have been all weekend - with warm sunshine for today's 53-lap encounter.

A light easterly breeze is expected to veer round to a southerly by the end of the race, but air temperature will rise to 27 Celsius, translating into a maximum track temperature of around 41 degrees.

Here's how the standings look after a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix. World Championship standings, round 12: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Alonso 164 1. Red Bull-Renault 272 2. Vettel 140 2. McLaren-Mercedes 218 3. Webber 132 3. Lotus-Renault 207 4. Raikkonen 131 4. Ferrari 199 5. Hamilton 117 5. Mercedes 112 6. Button 101 6. Sauber-Ferrari 80 7. Rosberg 77 7. Force India-Mercedes 59 8. Grosjean 76 8. Williams-Renault 53

The passionate crowd rises as the Italian national anthem is played at Monza.

Hamilton

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage and rolling updates from round 13 of this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

McLaren scored an away victory yesterday by locking out the front row of the grid on Ferrari's home ground. So Lewis Hamilton starts on pole this afternoon ahead of Spa winner Jenson Button, with Felipe Massa third on the grid and Michael Schumacher a strong fourth in the Mercedes.

Hamilton leads McLaren one-two in Monza qualifying

Sebastian Vettel will be looking to continue hauling in points from fifth, while championship leader Fernando Alonso is way down in 10th after car problems in Q3. The Spaniard will first need to avoid trouble on the opening lap before getting through as many cars as possible to protect his points advantage.

It should be a cracking race this afternoon and championship implications are huge if Alonso does not get on the podium.