Ahead of today's all-important qualifying session, the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 28 degrees. The track temperature just a couple of degrees cooler than this morning.

There's a strong headwind down the main front straight, so drivers will be keen to use DRS even more than usual. It's blown in some massive dark clouds which don't seem to be going away. There was flooding about fifty miles south of the circuit overnight, but in Budapest it was dry and warm.

Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets this morning but the fastest time of the weekend, thus far, belongs to Lewis Hamilton whose time set yesterday afternoon has yet to be beaten. Surprisingly, the McLaren driver was only seventh quickest this morning, making a mistake on his one flying lap on the option rubber.

It's pretty tight at the top with Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button and Alonso all within half-a-second of one another.

Much has been made of the fact that Red Bull opted to break the curfew rule last night, working until 5am as it stripped Vettel's car down to the bare essentials. We can confirm that a team source has informed us that there was nothing found to be wrong with the car, though a few "very detailed set-up changes" were carried out. They appear to have worked.

The warmer temperatures will suit Ferrari more than McLaren while Mercedes appears to be all at sea here.

Behind the front runners, Renault, Force India and Sauber seem pretty well matched with Williams edging out Toro Rosso.

Based on what we've seen in the previous sessions it is entirely possible that neither Virgin or Hispania will make it inside the requisite 107% today, especially if the front runners opt to use options.

Unlike some of the previous races, pole position here remains important so we can expect the big guns to be giving everything. We are not expecting rain either today or tomorrow, though the wind could cause a few problems.

The supersoft (option) tyres are around a second quicker than the soft (prime), with the harder tyre looking good in terms of degradation. It is widely expected that we are looking at a three-stopper tomorrow with two stints on the prime.

As Ricciardo heads down the pitlane to get the session underway, he is warned that the wind has picked up considerably since this morning and that, more importantly, it's coming from a different direction. Teammate Liuzzi joins him.

As the Hispania duo post the first times of the afternoon - Liuzzi crossing the line at 27.850 - Vettel and Webber head down the pitlane. Both are out surprisingly early. Then again, some of those clouds look threatening.

No surprises when Vettel goes quickest in all three sectors, crossing the line at 22.387. Glock goes second with a 27.186 only to be leapfrogged by Webber with his 23.237.

Moments later Button splits the Red Bulls only to be dumped down to third when teammate Hamilton goes quickest with a 21.636. That's a second quicker than he managed this morning on the option tyres.

Button improves to second with a 22.363 as Rosberg and Schumacher go fourth and fifth. Elsewhere, Alonso and Massa leave the pits. On his first flying lap the Brazilian goes fourth (22.576), while Alonso can only manage 25.694 to go eighteenth.

Next time around, Alonso goes quickest in S1, finally crossing the line at 22.111 to go third. He is almost instantly demoted when Button improves with a 22.038. Webber posts PBs in all three sectors to go fifth (22.208).

With 7:45 on the clock, all drivers are within 107%. No sign of any of the front runners switching to options at this time.

Alonso is still setting a blistering pace, the Spaniard going quickest in S1, a sector where the Ferraris have struggled previously. He's quickest again in S2, crossing the line at 21.578 to go quickest.

As in this morning's session, Liuzzi sheds a little piece of his car. Earlier it was a front wing end plate.

Trulli, now happy with his power steering, posts a 25.605 on the harder rubber. The Italian going nineteenth.