2012 United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix

Lap 4: Hamilton tries DRS on Webber at Turn 11 but can't make it stick and is forced to back out of his move over the run off.

Lap 3: Alonso's pace isn't great at the moment, with the Spaniard struggling to warm his tyres .

Lap 3: Hulkenberg sneaked through ahead of Schumacher before that chaos happened, so the Force India driver has clear air in fifth.

Lap 3: Vettel sets the fastest lap to pull 1.4 seconds clear, with Hamilton a similar distance back in third. Alonso is currently another 2.5s back

Lap 3: Grosjean sent a big move on Schumacher and made it stick. The Frenchman is up to sixth, with Raikkonen now attacking the German.

Lap 2: Perez is 11th and cheered on by the countless Mexican fans here, with Senna 12th, Maldonado 13th, Rosberg 14th and Button down to 15th spot.

Lap 2: Vettel's lead is 0.7s over team-mate Webber.

Lap 2: But it is Alonso that benefits most from a brilliantly-executed first lap to make his team tactics pay off.

Lap 2: Schumacher is fifth with Hulkenberg up to an excellent sixth, Raikkonen seventh, Grosjean eighth, di Resta ninth and Massa 10th.

Lap 2: Hamilton was slow away from the dirty side and strong moves from Webber at the first corner has shuffled the McLaren down to third.

Lap 1: Behind them some minor altercations but the pack seemed to get through the opening corners without too much trouble, despite the concerns.

Lap 1: Down the back straight for the first time it is Vettel from Webber, with Hamilton demoted to third and the fast-starting Alonso fourth.

Lap 1: Vettel gets a predictably good start and leads into Turn 1 with Webber coming into second. Hamilton third and Alonso up to fourth!

Lap 1: The five red lights go out and we are racing in Texas, USA!

The front three rows are in position and the pack is forming up nicely behind them. Watch for the dirty side. We await the lights...

Vettel makes the turn for home and slows down to bring the field into line behind him.

Drivers weaving vigorously to build tyre temperature, the lack of which is likely to be a factor in the early laps.

The polesitter generates heat through the final multiple apex corners on his way to the final corner of the lap.

Down the back straight and Vettel is keeping the pace up, warming up his tyres, as he continues to lead them around.

All 24 cars have left the grid, as Vettel winds his way through the fantastic sweepers between Turns 3 and 9.

Button and Rosberg have opted for the hard tyres.

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

A capacity crowd is on hand and perfect for the sport's return to the United States. Fans are filling every grandstand and spectator bank.

Final choice of rubber going on the cars now, with little in it for those outside the top 10 with a free choice of rubber.

Air temperature has ballooned up to 24 Celsius, with the track at 31 degrees with a few minutes to go.

Only one DRS zone here down the long back straight, with the gap between drivers detected heading down to Turn 11.

There are just five minutes remaining until the formation lap begins at the Circuit of the Americas.

The uphill, tight first corner presents the possibility of an early tangle, so the championship contenders will need to be cautious there.

Hamilton, who won that last US race, put in a brilliant qualifying effort, but could struggle to launch from the dirty second place spot.

Alonso

Tyres have been a major factor this weekend, with Pirelli's medium and hard compounds proving difficult to get up to temperature thanks to the super-smooth new Austin asphalt.

With the rubber barely wearing as it struggles to bite into the surface, a one-stop race is planned throughout the field.

Nevertheless, strategists are still concerned about the lengthy time required to warm the tyres up to temperature, with the best grip delivered after four or five laps on the tyres.

That means leapfrogging a rival by pitting earlier may not work well and could lead to drivers staying out as late as possible to ensure they have a margin to allow for tyre warm-up.

Vettel, starting his 100th race from pole after his debut at the last Indianapolis race in 2007, looks calm and focussed as he gets ready.

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

A flypast of historical planes zooms overhead to entertain the huge crowd.

The all-new asphalt lacks any rubber on the off-line side of the grid, with plenty of construction dust as well despite sweeping efforts.

Plenty of concern for those starting on the dirty side of the grid, with practice starts performed yesterday delivering lots of wheelspin.

Weather conditions are fine and dry for today's 56-lap encounter. No threat of rain this afternoon and the sky should remain clear for the race.

A light-to-moderate breeze has increased slightly from the south-east, with air temperature up to the projected maximum of 21 degrees Celsius.

Fans in the packed grandstands rise as the US national anthem is played.

Here's how the standings look with two races remaining, with Vettel and Red Bull able to clinch the titles this afternoon. World Championship standings, round 18: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 255 1. Red Bull-Renault 422 2. Alonso 245 2. Ferrari 340 3. Raikkonen 198 3. McLaren-Mercedes 318 4. Webber 167 4. Lotus-Renault 288 5. Hamilton 165 5. Mercedes 136 6. Button 153 6. Sauber-Ferrari 124 7. Massa 95 7. Force India-Mercedes 95 8. Rosberg 93 8. Williams-Renault 73

Vettel

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of the penultimate round in the 2012 FIA Formula 1 world championship. It's showdown in Texas - the United States Grand Prix and the title is on the line.

Sebastian Vettel stormed his way to fastest in all three practice sessions and then backed that up with another pole position yesterday, edging out McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, with Mark Webber third on the grid.

Vettel beats Hamilton to Austin pole

Fernando Alonso qualified way down the order in ninth position, but he has found help thanks to Romain Grosjean taking a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change. Then his own team deliberately broke the seal on Felipe Massa's unit this morning, gaining the Spaniard a further position on the grid. He starts seventh, with still a lot of work on his plate, but critically does now start on the clean side of the circuit.

Ferrari incurs penalty for Massa to boost Alonso

So, with fun and games taking place between the top two teams already, we are set for a highly charged race for the sport's return to America.