Good afternoon and welcome to LIVE commentary from the qualifying session of the United States Grand Prix.

Thanks for joining us - we'll be back at 18:00 GMT for qualifying.

The chequered flag is out – and it is a Red Bull one-two.

Alonso looks to have given up for the morning – he is in the pits with a time of 1:37.763, which sees him 11th.

Grosjean manages to go fourth with a time of 1:37.431 but Webber quickly betters that time with a 1:36.936. Vettel then heads the timesheets with a 1:36.733.

Hamilton, by the way, is fifth with a time of 1:37.491.

And the German betters his time again with a 1:37.272.

Vettel’s first run on the mediums sees him 00.077 slower than Hulkenberg who is looking good again on his next lap.

Webber, who went quicker in the middle sector than Hulkenberg, fails to take the lead from the German with his time of 1:37.418, some 0.062 down.

Hulkenberg, a free agent, goes 1:37.356 to take the lead – he was quickest in the middle sector.

Remember that that time from Vettel is on the hard compounds.

Alonso, on the mediums, is 00.330 off Vettel to move up to fifth.

Sergio Perez, currently in eighth, is also out on the mediums – with more drivers to run the mediums expect there to be a bit of a shake up on the leaderboard.

Jules Bianchi is out on the mediums – the first driver to do so, I believe.

Mark Webber goes second with a time of 1:37.626 – he ran off on his first lap there but recovered well to make it a Red Bull one-two.

Bottas, who had previously set a fastest first sector time, has gone third quickest with a time of 1:37.759.

Heikki Kovalainen, a reserve driver for Caterham, is in the Lotus in place Kimi Raikkonen, who has been ruled out with back surgery. He sets a time of 1:38.259 to go eighth.

A fair few drivers are said to not be happy with the set ups at the moment but the conditions are not reflective of how they will be come qualifying at 18:00 GMT and the race at 19:00 GMT tomorrow.

Nico Hulkenberg, running the hards, sets a time of 1:37.806 to sit second behind Vettel.

Valtteri Bottas sets the fastest first sector time but comes home in 1:38.462 to sit tenth two places shy of Fernando Alonso, whose 1:38.358 sees him eighth.

Button goes round in 1:37.962 – which is 0.529 off Vettel in first – and he is third ahead of Vettel’s teammate Webber who remains in the pits, apparently not happy with the set-up.