After winning three of the last four races, McLaren will do well to add to its tally today. While Jenson Button did well to grab third place on the grid, his penalty for changing his gearbox will make life just that little bit harder. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, who could only mange ninth, is unlikely be able to take the fight to the Red Bulls this afternoon.

Sebastian Vettel led the front row lock-out for the Austrian team, it first of 2012, Mark Webber just 0.251s behind. Having looked supreme all weekend, it is hard to see anyone but a Red Bull driver taking the win here today.

As far as the fans here are concerned the man of the moments is Kamui Kobayashi, who will actually start from third following Button's penalty. With teammate Sergio Perez starting two places back the Swiss outfit must be hoping for a serious amount of points this afternoon.

Romain Grosjean pulled out all the stops to take fifth, however, the Lotus has looked a handful all weekend, witness Kimi Raikkonen's mishap in the final moments of Q3. Despite a fabulous start to the season, the team has lost its shine, the ongoing saga of the 'device' not entirely helping things.

Another team at sixes and sevens is Ferrari. As the Italian team blames its windtunnel for a serious of updates that haven't proven effective, Fernando Alonso must be wondering how long he can hold off the opposition for. Though he scored podiums in both Italy and Singapore, some would say this is more about the bad luck of others than a spirited defence by the Maranello outfit. With six races remaining the opposition is breathing down his neck and a repeat of 2010's end of season turnaround looks to be on the cards, if not sooner.

It's been a torrid weekend for Force India, what with crashes for both Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg. Nonetheless, the team is convinced that it can turn things around, and the back its performance in Singapore who would doubt it.

Another team having a difficult weekend is Mercedes, the German outfit's cause hardly helped by Michael Schumacher's ten-place penalty carried over from Singapore. That said, the wily old fox has plenty of fresh rubber available so don't write him off. Nor should you give up on his young teammate Nico Rosberg, who is due to receive a serious wake up call next season.

Bruno Senna was unlucky to lose out to Jean-Eric Vergne in Q2, one of a number of incidents this weekend where drivers have wrecked the laps of others by being in the wrong place at the wrong speed. Speaking earlier, Anthony Davidson said that in this respect it is an anomaly of the track layout, much like Monaco, but try telling that to Bruno and all the others who have lost out this weekend. Maldonado had similar problems, however, both should be in good shape for some points later this afternoon.

The Toro Rosso duo continue to do the best their car allows them, while Caterham still has the edge in terms of the minnows. Timo Glock's performance in Singapore, aided by a number of important retirements, put Marussia back in the tenth place in the Constructors' Championship. Seeing how much money this is worth to the team that finishes tenth, it gives the fight some added spice.