Ahead of today's all-important qualifying session, the air temperature is 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 41 degrees. There is a lot more cloud than this morning, but there is no threat of rain.

Going by the three free practice sessions McLaren appear to have the edge, with Hamilton looking good for his third successive win. While Ferrari is 'up there', there seems to be a mood in the Italian camp, the teams simply doesn't look as though it's up for the fight, with Kimi Raikkonen looking much like he did in Germany.

The tyres in use here are the soft and super-soft, which she shall refer to as hard and soft. That said, when the best times were being set this morning there didn't appear to be much between them. Graining is an issue, and certain teams, most notable Ferrari, appear to be suffering more than others.

Glock and Piquet were both uncharacteristically prominent on this morning's timesheets, however, it is their respective teammates who we expect to be making a mark this afternoon and tomorrow. That said, both drivers are making obvious progress.

Despite their obvious problems with the tyres, and the apparent drop off of performance, expect BMW to be challenging, with Heidfeld clearly finding his feet again. Watch out for Toro Rosso also, with Bourdais looking a lot more confident this weekend.

While a Hamilton victory here would delight his many fans, if we're right about Ferrari being on the back foot this would be bad for F1, as the Englishman would look a red-hot certainty for the title. On current form, it's unlikely that we're going to see the title go down to the wire, however, we would dearly love to see the fight last as long as possible.

The lights go green for phase one, but it is almost a minute before Vettel breaks the deadlock and heads down the pitlane. He's followed by Coulthard, Bourdais and Rosberg.

Vettel sets the benchmark with a 1:21.464, with Coulthard going second and Bourdais third.

Glock is on track on softs, the German taking the top spot with a 20.258, one of the fastest laps of the weekend. Bourdais (hards) improves to second.

As Nakajima goes third (21.405), Kovalainen, Raikkonen and Massa head down the pitlane, followed, shortly afterwards, by Hamilton.

Of the four, it is Kovalainen who goes quickest in the first sector, the Finn maintaining the pace in the second. He goes quickest with a 20.156, as Massa (soft) goes third and Raikkonen (hard) fourth. Hamilton (hards) goes quickest in the first two sectors and again in the third, stopping the clock at 19.376 to go quickest.

Raikkonen improves to third, as Piquet goes sixth with a 20.798. However, both are demoted as Jarno Trulli posts 19.993 to snatch third.

As Webber (softs) goes seventh, Alonso (softs) begins his first flying lap. A small mistake means the Spaniard can only mange eighth (20.655).

All eyes on Kubica, who is running with the soft option. The Pole momentarily goes tenth (20.671), but is soon demoted as others improve. Next time around, a 20.625 sees the BMW driver improve to sixth. Elsewhere, his teammate goes fifteenth.