Welcome back to live commentary from ESPNF1 on the Australian Grand Prix.

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It'll be a busy session but I'll do my best to answer if I get a free moment.

Webber was fastest on his home circuit in practice this morning and looks very quick in the Red Bull. Ferrari is up there too and Schumacher appears to have solved his Bahrain problems.

Weather update from Ferrari: "Here we are for the qualifying session. The weather forecast is not encouraging: rain can hit the track during the session."

It's overcast at the moment but the teams have very sensitive forecasting so they ought to know.

Virgin is hoping the rain won't trouble its drivers, but gives a quick track condition update after a support race this morning: "Track still being inspected after that massive startline shunt in the GTs. But should be ok for quali. Now we just need rain to stay away."

The drivers are getting in their cars now, preparing themselves for Q1.

24 cars on the track made for a very busy session in final free practice so get ready for some thrills and spills.

Remember seven cars drop out at the end of this session, so that's likely to be the Lotuses, the Virgins, the HRTs and one other.

Liuzzi heads down the pit lane to be the first on track. He's followed by his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil. Are they expecting rain?

Bridgestone say the hard tyre takes three to four laps to get up to warm up to operating temperature.

All the front runners will be using the hard tyres in Q1 to save their softs.

Apparently the softs have about 0.5s advantage over the hards.

A Ferrari is nearly stationary on the penultimate corner waiting for a gap in the traffic.

Massa abandons a quick lap to give him some space. It's very busy out there. One mistake could spell disaster.

Alonso fastest on a 1:26.162. Expect them to be in the low 1:25s on the hards and in the 1:24s on the softs.

Webber pips Alonso with a 1:25.951 but Alonso hits back immediately. 125.522 now the fastest time.

All cars are on track and some of them are very slow trying to find a gap in the traffic. They need to maintain tyre temp so it's a real juggling act.

Schumacher 3rd on a 1:25.736. Kobayashi is wild in the Sauber, he replaced two front wings on Friday after an accident.

Alonso sets a 1:25.082 as the hard tyres warm up. Times are flying in left right and centre.

10 minutes left in this session and Buemi is currently in teh drop zone with the six new teams.

Vettel fastest on a 1:24.774, that's very fast on the hard tyres - the best all weekend. Hamilton is about to pump in a quick lap though.

Hamilton catches a big slide in the final corner but is still fast enough for third.

Massa is off the pace, apparently having problems warming the tyres. He is over a second off the best time. He's back on track now for another attempt on a brand new set of the hard tyres.

Barrichello complaining about backmarkers, saying Alguersuari was holding him up.

Massa is having to lift on the throttle in some corners to give him the confidence to attack. He sets the seventh fastest time - 1:25.635.

Chandhok is currently ahead of Senna and di Grassi but Senna is on a hot lap. He moves ahead of di Grassi but is 0.010 off Chandhok.

Schumacher is not showing the kind of pace he did in free practice but it's early days yet.

Renault's Petrov is now in the drop zone. Kubica has proved that car is capable of top ten laps this weekend so Petrov needs to find some time.

Chequered flag out, Petrov is out of qualifying.

Rosberg pops in the second fastest time a 1:24.788

Kovalainen in the Lotus got within 0.4s of Petrov's time, a very strong showing. Senna was under a tenth ahead of Chandhok in the HRTs that were only 0.4s off Virgin.

Petrov made a big mistake through the high speed chicane at the end of sector two. The car looked very skittish under braking.

Rain could be in the air, a few coats are going on in the grandstands. Williams confirms that: "Argh....spots of rain! Lots of engineers sticking their arms out from under the pit wall."

Webber and Liuzzi head out straight away for Q2, they are keen to get a lap in the dry.

Massa goes out on softs to get an immediate quick lap, Webber is on hards.

Mercedes also out on soft tyres as nearly all the drivers hit the track. Webber is running wide on his first hot lap.

Alonso fastest on a 1:24.459 - that was on hard tyres - 0.3 seconds faster than Webber.

Webber pops in a 1:24.523 just off Alonso's time. A correction: Alonso is on soft tyres.

Hamilton is pushed into the garage after aborting a lap on soft tyres. Is there a problem for the McLaren driver?

Webber fastest now 1:24.276. Three laps into his hard-tyre run.

Button within three tenths of Webber but his McLaren has soft tyres on.

The lap record at Melbourne is 1:24.125 set by Schumacher in 2004. Webber has the potential to beat that today.

Hamilton heads out again after adjusting the tyre pressures. He's warming his tyres on the straight. He hasn't set a lap time yet so the pressure is on.

Kubica and Barrichello are in the top ten at the moment in prime position to make Q3.

Hamilton looks set to make his way into Q3 on what looks likely to be a better lap. It's enough for seventh, off the pace of Button but ahead of Kubica and Barrichello.

Sutil is having a bad time of it in the Force India setting a time way outside the top ten, he is aiming for Q3.

Hamilton asking where he can find time. He's told sector 3.

Vettel second quickest on a 1:24.312. Hamilton dropped to 11th by Barrichello, Sutil and Kubica.

He's got one more chance on a worn set of softs.

Hamilton is out of qualifying after a terrible first sector. Vettel goes fastest on a 1:24.096.

Schumacher is safe and it looks as though Sutil, Barrichello and Kubica are in Q3. Great effort by them.

Hamilton shakes his head as he is wheeled back into the pits.

Just over a second separating the top ten from Vettel to Kubica.

The McLaren is quick despite Hamilton's problems, Button is 0.5s off Vettel in fourth.

Red Bull look dominant at the front. Alonso is their only real contender as Massa is still struggling back in seventh.

Thank you to Virgilio Ver de Vera who points out that Vettel's lap of 1:24.096 has beaten Schumacher's 2004 lap record.

Very impressive by Vettel and Red Bull as that 2004 time was set with a V10 engine and one of the most dominant chassis ever seen in F1.

2004 times are still the lap records at many of the circuits.

Ferrari admit Red Bull has the upper hand: "Both drivers OK in Q3, Red Bulls very very fast today..."

Webber leaves the pits first in the Red Bull followed by Alonso, Massa and Barrichello.

Schumacher also out, harassing the back of Webber's car. Alonso waeving to put heat in his soft tyres ahead of his first run.

Clouds are getting dark but still no rain.

Webber looks set to clock a fast benchmark time. He does a 1:24.035 to go quickest.

But Vettel is on a charge... and despite a mistake in sector three sets a 1:23.919 - an incredible lap.

Alonso can only manage third fastest. on a 1:24.225.

Track temp has dropped and Rosberg, Button and Schumacher are struggling as a result. Barrichello is currently ahead of Massa by 0.3s.

Everyone is out on softs so they'll all be starting on that compound, unless they bolt on hards and go faster...

Schumacher called to the weigh bridge by the FIA but should get one final lap in.

So here they go for their final runs. Rosberg and Schumacher on hard tyres.

Alonso completes a fast lap but it won't be enough - still third fastest.

Vettel looks guaranteed to take pole as Webber's times are not close enough.

Even Vettel struggling now as the chequered flag comes out.

Vettel pole, Schumacher still on a lap but it's unlikely to beat him. Massa jumps up to fifth but is behind Button in fourth.

Vettel celebrates over the radio: "We will show them!". He's got pole for the second race in a row and the Red Bull looks dominant.

Alonso's best was a 1:24.111 compared to Webber 1:24.035 and Vettel 1:23.919. Button was way off that pace with a 1:24.675.

Thank you for joining us for qualifying. Red Bull looks set to dominate tomorrow, but anything can happen at Melbourne so make sure you check back to ESPNF1 for more live commentary.