Ahead of today's free practice session the air temperature is 28 degrees C, while the track temperature is 35 degrees. Like yesterday it is bright and sunny though there is still a chance of rain on Sunday.

While yesterday morning's session saw the top fifteen covered by just 1.029s, in the afternoon Sebastian Vettel was untouchable, his nearest opposition, albeit his Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, over 0.6s adrift.

Naturally, the German insists that all is not as it appears and claims that he feels threatened by Mercedes and Ferrari.

While Lewis hamilton might well pull another ‘Spa-like' trick from the hat, the pace of the German and his car is pretty much as it was in Belgium.

Other than Red Bull, Lotus looked particularly strong, Kimi Raikkonen running a long wheelbase version of the E21. That said, the Finn, who is at the centre of media speculation regarding his 2014 seat, was plagued by problems in the afternoon, as a result he is back in the regular chassis today.

The McLarens were up there - sort of - as were the Force Indias, whilst Williams, Toro Rosso and Sauber struggled.

Good to see Max Chilton head the Caterham/Marussia battle at the bottom of the timesheets.

Tyre choices on this the fastest track on the calendar are hard (prime) and medium (option). Paul Hembery claims that there is about a second between the two compounds though this will reduce as the circuit evolves. Ferrari, in particular, struggled with the option tyre.

There are two DRS zones, one on the main pit straight the other on the run from the second Lesmo to the Variante Ascari.

The lights go green and Chilton leads the way, Raikkonen, Massa and Vettel among the early risers, every single driver, bar Grosjean, enjoying a brand new engine for this demanding, power-hungry circuit.

While most head back to the pits following their installation lap, Hulkenberg, Vettel and Webber remain on track. Both Red Bulls sporting lots of flo-vis.

Interesting to note that Russian hopeful Sergey Sirotkin has been maintaining a high profile here this weekend, Sauber still unwilling (or unable) to reveal what it has planned for him in 2014.

First time of the day is posted by Van der Garde (1:28.728), with teammate Pic posting 27.884 moments later. Perez gets things slightly more serious with a 26.489.

In the Ferrari garage, James Allison, making his public debut with the team, chats to Alonso, the pair having enjoyed great success during their Renault days.

Di Resta goes quickest (26.230) and his teammate second only to be demoted when Perez improves to 26.004.