In case the number of offs witnessed during the three free practice sessions wasn't enough to tell us that there is a grip problem here, the various shenanigans during the two GP2 races are more than enough proof that drivers will struggle here this afternoon.

Although we don't expect the situation to be as bad as it was in Montreal, we are going to see drivers struggle as the race develops.

The other factor will be strategy, with some teams possibly going for three stops.

In the GP2 races we saw that the best overtaking opportunities presented themselves at Adelaide (the hairpin), and this will almost certainly be the case this afternoon also.

We saw Michael and Fernando checking one another out during the final phase of qualifying, and if that's any indicator of what to expect this afternoon, we could be in for a decent race… for a change.

Renault, still smarting from its defeat at Indianapolis, will be keen to win on home soil, while Fernando will be eager not to allow Schumacher to take any more points away from him, having seen the German close to within 19 points.

The other drivers to watch out for this afternoon will be Massa, clearly getting better with every race, while Jarno Trulli is another driver on a roll. Other than Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella, it's going to be worth seeing how BMW and Honda, in particular, deal with the nightmare that was qualifying. Both teams expected much more here.

Ahead of today's race we learn the Tonio Liuzzi will start from the back of the grid following the decision to change his engine for the second successive race. The Italian had qualified seventeenth, but would have started from sixteenth, following Nico Rosberg's engine change.

As the field prepares to head off on the warm-up lap, the air temperature is 34 degrees C, while the track temperature is 51 degrees. It is bright and beautiful, but very, very warm.

As the cars head off on the warm-up lap, Takuma Sato clearly has a problem, the Super Aguri unable to get off the grid.

They're away, and despite Alonso's best efforts, Massa holds him off, which is great news for Michael Schumacher. At 180 the Spaniard locks up in his efforts to hound the second Ferrari.

At the end of the first lap, Michael leads from Massa, Alonso, Trulli, Ralf, Raikkonen, Fisichella and Webber, who has made a superb start. De la Rosa is ninth ahead of Heidfeld.

As Michael enjoys a 1.2s advantage, Alonso is clearly frustrated and locks-up again. Elsewhere, Takuma Sato's race is over, the Japanese driver having pulled off track.

Massa and Alonso trade fastest sectors, as the Brazilian rides shotgun for the Ferrari number one.

Other than the leading trio, the battles to watch are those for sixth, with Raikkonen under pressure from Fisichella, while de la Rosa is all over Webber. Barrichello, in twelfth, is having trouble fending off Speed, Villeneuve, Klien, Button, Rosberg and Liuzzi. Monteiro is busy hounding Montagny.