2012 Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix

Exiting the chicane now and Vettel slows the pace down dramatically, as he attempts to get the field bunched up behind him.

The Red Bull driver takes them through Spoon and starts the uphill drag towards the fearsome 130R corner.

The safety car has been out in a majority of recent events here, with recovery of a stranded car often difficult at this classic venue.

All 24 drivers left the grid without problem, as Vettel rounds Dunlop and heads for the Degner curves.

The formation lap begins at Suzuka. Vettel answers the call and leads the field of 24 away from the grid under glorious sunshine.

Early indications are that Vergne, Pic and Schumacher are the men rolling the strategy dice with a first stint on hard compound tyres.

Polesitter Vettel puts on his gloves, as he finishes off his pre-race routine.

Final choice of tyres now on the cars, with those outside the top 10 having the option of starting on the harder compound.

With an increase in wind speed, track temperature has cooled to 32 Celsius as the drivers concentrate in their cockpits ahead of the race.

One DRS zone here, slightly shorter than last year, with the wing allowed to open down the pit straight.

There are just five minutes remaining until the formation lap begins at Suzuka.

Great atmosphere on the grid as the drivers begin to get comfortable in the cars infront of a cheering crowd.

Button

"A very fast and tactical race," promises Pirelli's Paul Hembery as the teams prepare for the challenges of Suzuka on soft and hard compound tyres.

Red Bull certainly is very fast this weekend and looks set to dominate from the front in what is likely to be a two-stop event.

Soft rubber had a significant margin in qualifying and looks to be a reasonable race tyre, with strategists looking for feedback from the drivers over the first stint to make a choice of compound for the middle part of the race.

Blistering of the rear tyres is a concern for teams thanks to the high-speed nature of the circuit, meaning outfits will be keeping a close eye on the rubber for any signs of trouble.

Sauber, Lotus, Ferrari and McLaren drivers will all be eying the podium today, with the latter setting a strong race pace on Friday but ending up boxed back in 8th and 9th on the grid and looking to make early progress.

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

The unthinkable has happened - we've had three dry and fine days at Suzuka with plenty of sunshine and no rain during the on-track action.

Dry and sunny conditions will continue through the race today, with a slight north-westerly breeze and air temperature up to 26 degrees, allowing track surface temperature to reach almost 40 Celsius.

Fans in the packed grandstands rise for the Japanese national anthem.

This is how the standings look heading in to today's race: World Championship standings, round 14: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Alonso 194 1. Red Bull-Renault 298 2. Vettel 165 2. McLaren-Mercedes 261 3. Raikkonen 149 3. Ferrari 245 4. Hamilton 142 4. Lotus-Renault 231 5. Webber 133 5. Mercedes 136 6. Button 119 6. Sauber-Ferrari 100 7. Rosberg 93 7. Force India-Mercedes 75 8. Grosjean 82 8. Williams-Renault 54

Vettel

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 15 of this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka.

Sebastian Vettel produced a dominant display both in final practice and in the qualifying session itself to claim his fourth straight pole at this wonderful 5.807km track with a lap of 1m30.839s, ahead of Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber.

Rivals don't fear Red Bull's upturn in form

Local hero Kamui Kobayashi is a magnificent third on the grid and needs a result today. The Sauber driver is fighting for a drive next season and has to convert a solid qualifying result into a large haul of points. Romain Grosjean is alongside him in the Lotus, with new McLaren signing Sergio Perez fifth and championship leader Fernando Alonso departing from sixth. This could be another damage limitation exercise for the Spaniard.

The drivers have completed their laps to the grid and we expect an intense 53-lap race this afternoon.