It's probably fair to say that events off-track have dominated thus far today, be it Red Bull's announcement that Sebastian Vettel is leaving at season's end or Lewis Hamilton's encounter with the barriers at Turn 1.

If nothing else, these two events have put Typhoon Phanfone on the back boiler, at least for now.

Hamilton's off in FP3 means the Briton hasn't had any running on the option rubber today, not to mention the task his mechanics face in repairing his car in time for qualifying.

Unsurprisingly, Nico Rosberg was the pace-setter, his best time 1.211s quicker than the nearest non-Mercedes driver.

Other than Alonso, who is at the centre of media speculation following Red Bull's announcement, Mercedes main opposition here appears to be Williams, with both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas on the pace this morning.

Red Bull had a mixed session, Sebastian Vettel side-lined for much of the morning with a turbo issue, while Daniel Ricciardo still making up for yesterday's off.

There were mixed fortunes for Ferrari also, whilst Jean-Eric Vergne only ran for the first twenty minutes of the session.

As we saw this morning, grip continues to be a real struggle with drivers going off all over the place.

However, all that went before, all that happens over the course of the next hour, may count for nothing if the meteorologists are proven right. There are claims that the race will start at 15:00 regardless of the weather, but it could well be behind the Safety Car.

Ahead of Q1, the air temperature is 23 degrees C, while the track temperature is 38 degrees. It is brighter than this morning, but the fact is, in terms of the weather, all eyes are on tomorrow. Indeed, speaking ahead of the session Eric Boullier admitted that the chance of rain on Sunday is "ninety-nine per cent".

Ferrari reveals that during the break it has changed the power unit on Raikkonen's car claiming it may have set a record. It was changed for an old unit so no penalty for the Finn.

Surprising, but even here, a venue which is usually sold out month in advance, there are swathes of empty seats in some of the grandstands.

Another driver who had problems this morning was Maldonado, who already faces a ten-place grid penalty under the power unit component rules.

The lights go green for Q1 and Kobayashi leads the way, much to the delight of the passionate crowd. The Japanese is one of several drivers who has opted to start proceedings on the option rubber.

As Kobayashi posts 1:37.977, all but Ricciardo, Vettel and Ericsson are on track.

The times tumble, Vergne posting 35.729 but subsequently demoted when Rosberg bangs in a 33.671. A 33.611 sees Hamilton, his clearly repaired to his satisfaction, take the top spot by 0.060s.

"Getting lots of different D-rates through that lap," Hamilton reports.

Bottas goes third (34.301) and Massa fourth (34.483), as Williams appears to remain the biggest 'threat' to the Silver Arrows.

A 34.497 sees Alonso go fifth as Vettel goes eighth with a 35.517.

Ericsson, who has looked strong all weekend here, is the last driver to post a time, the Swede stopping the clock at 36.988 to go nineteenth.

"I lost sync out of the chicane," complains Vettel.

With 7:00 remaining, the highest placed driver on the option rubber is Sutil (36.338) in 15th, 2.727s off Hamilton's best.

That said, as Ricciardo goes ninth 35.593), Vergne, on options, improves to tenth with a 35.729.

The Lotus duo switch to options as does Raikkonen, whilst Button, currently 7th, is advised he may have to run again.