2012 Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix

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

They are all in position nicely. Are you ready for this? We await the lights ...

Webber rounds Anthony Noghes and leads the field up to the starting grid.

Through the tunnel and Webber leads them through the chicane and onto the harbour front.

Round Casino Square and the polesitter takes them downhill towards Mirabeau.

Vettel and Button do appear to be on soft compound rubber, as is di Resta, Petrov and de la Rosa.

The formation lap begins and Mark Webber leads the field of 24 away from the grid.

The engines fire with a minute to the formation lap.

Track temperature is 35 Celsius and rain looks likely during the race now. Showers are continuing to move in from the north.

The packed grid begins to clear, leaving only teams of mechanics ready to get the cars started.

There is just five minutes to go until the formation lap begins at Monaco.

DRS is available here, along the pit straight, but last year didn't prove particularly useful as an overtaking aid into the first corner.

Button

Pirelli's soft and supersoft rubber is ready for action in today's race, with teams still lacking vital data on how the tyres will perform over a long run thanks to Thursday's rain-affected afternoon practice session.

Nevertheless, wear rate is expected to be minimal here, with a two stop plan looking like the racier option and even the chance of a single pit visit being made to work.

Vettel and Button are men to watch for deploying the one-stop gamble, with both able to start on the soft compound before making late use of the suepersoft when the track is at its best - providing the threatening clouds stay away.

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

A complex weather picture is developing quickly just north of the principality, as we build-up to the race.

It has been largely fine and sunny in Monaco this morning, but cloud has begun to spill in from the north and the sunny spells are becoming less frequent. A few miles further north, showers are making their way over the Alps and there is a chance of some light rain during the race - similar to the conditions during Thursday's second practice session.

An interesting race is in store this afternoon, with air temperature up to 21 degrees Celsius.

Many drivers taking a moment to focus themselves ahead of a long race around the ultimate street venue.

Here's how the points race looks after an unpredictable start to the season: World Championship standings, round 5: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 61 1. Red Bull-Renault 109 2. Alonso 61 2. McLaren-Mercedes 98 3. Hamilton 53 3. Lotus-Renault 84 4. Raikkonen 49 4. Ferrari 63 5. Webber 48 5. Mercedes 43 6. Button 45 6. Williams-Renault 43 7. Rosberg 41 7. Sauber-Ferrari 41 8. Grosjean 35 8. Force India-Mercedes 18

Webber

Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for commentary from round six of the 2012 FIA Formula 1 world championship - the 70th Grand Prix de Monaco.

Michael Schumacher rolled back the years with a sensational lap of 1m14.301s to top the qualifying list yesterday, but a five-place grid penalty, incurred at the Spanish round two weeks ago, promotes Mark Weber to pole position for today's 78-lap race.

Nico Rosberg starts alongside the Australian on the front row of the grid, while Lewis Hamilton and many people's tip for victory - Romain Grosjean - will take off from row two.

Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button will provide the early entertainment behind the leaders, but we have potential fireworks at the back of the grid. Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez were involved in an on-track altercation on Saturday morning and, after a series of penalties, they are paired together on the back row.