Welcome to live coverage of qualifying for the Abu Dhabi grand prix from Yas Marina!

No change in the drop zone - Trulli aborts a hot lap. Ricciardo is a very creditable 19th... and time running out for Barrichello, though Williams claim to have fixed his car.

Hamilton 1:39.782, a cracking lap from the McLaren man. Not sure why he's bothering, to be honest.

Oh look, there's Schumacher going over the run-off area yet again. He's up to ninth, but still all over the place.

In the relegation zone: 18-Kovalainen, 19-Ricciardo, 20-Glock, 21-D'Ambrosio, 22-Liuzzi, 23-Trulli, 24(no lap)-Barrichello.

Storming lap from Button, 1:40.227. That will do nicely.

Everyone is inside 107% except Michael Schumacher, who has not yet clocked a full, uninterrupted lap.

Webber fastest, 1:40.936 - good pace early in the session. Then Hamilton clocks a 1:40.661...

Schumacher gets all out of shape through the chicane. He went off the track multiple times yesterday.

P1 for Vettel, 1:41.268, with Hamilton second.

Rubens Barrichello is still in the pits - Williams working hard to get his car ready after mechanical problems in practice.

Webber's first lap is 1:41.816. That might be enough to get him into Q", but I suspect he'll have another go.

Alguersuari sets the early pace with a 1:43.895. He's been in decent form for Toro Rosso.

Bruno Senna is a bit ragged cornering in his Renault. He sets the first timed lap of the day - 1:47.457. That's not fast.

A busy track, as the bulk of the field come out on harder 'prime' tyres.

Off we go! Q1 is under way, a 20-minute session to eliminate the seven slowest drivers.

Roberto Mancini and Gael Clichy are in the VIP section - Manchester City with the Abu Dhabi connection, of course.

It's late afternoon in Abu Dhabi, but the sun is still out and the air temperature 26C. Track temperature is 32C. It will get dark as this session progresses...

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in practice this morning, completing a clean sweep of the three sessions for McLaren. Can they stay on top in qualifying?