Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the qualifying session for the Brazilian Grand Prix. The talk has all been about the weather this weekend, and guess what? It's raining!

We've been unsure when rain is going to fall this weekend, but the initial forecast was just for Sunday. Yesterday it became apparent that qualifying could be wet, and right now the rain is falling with just under 30 minutes until Q1 starts...

If we focus on the form book so far this weekend, everything points to a McLaren pole position. Lewis Hamilton was quickest in both FP1 and FP2, while Jenson Button topped the times this morning. However, the rain is likely to mix things up and is good news for one man in particular: Fernando Alonso.

Alonso was half a second off the pace in FP3 and really needed rain for any opportunity to battle for a front row grid slot. We've only had two wet qualifying sessions so far this season - at Silverstone and Hockenheim - and the man on pole? Alonso both times.

Kimi Raikkonen had an engine failure during FP3, but Lotus has managed to fit the Abu Dhabi race-winning engine in to the car during the break and Raikkonen will be ready to start qualifying. He doesn't face any penalty, either.

Qualifying promises to be a hugely exciting session, but as always we'd like to hear from you during the next hour or so. Get in touch with us either by using the link above or via Twitter @ESPNF1

The first email of the afternoon comes in from Nico in Haiti who asks: "Ayrton Senna was known as one of the best wet-condition drivers out there. Who would you say holds that title in today's group of drivers?"

Schumacher was supreme in the wet, but having been present at Silverstone in 2008 I'd say Hamilton edges it in a full wet race. In changeable conditions then both Button and Alonso are very strong, too. These are the best drivers in the world, though, you can make an argument for many of them and there are no really weak drivers in the wet

The rain appears to have stopped for the moment - we've got Laurence in the paddock and he says "track already starting to dry ... quite a lot actually". Warm temperatures are helping, but there's always going to be a threat of more rain during the session

Ari emails in some Ferrari support from Finland: "Forza Ferrari!!!"

With track conditions as they are at present, we can expect to see drivers going out on intermediates early on and then switching to slicks during Q1

Siddhesh asks: "Would be great to see Schumi take another pole on the wet. He qualified in P3/P4 at Silverstone/Hockenheim and a wet qualy and race would be the only way his car has any chance to be up there. Is the rain expected to last the whole of qualy?"

Unfortunately not, the rain has stopped and while the track is damp it is drying

Speaking of Schumacher, Bernie Ecclestone has just wandered in to the Mercedes garage to see him before his final qualifying session

Kovalainen is told that there will definitely be more rain in Q1 and so he is going out on medium tyres to get in "a banker"

The session is under way and all of the bottom three teams head straight out on medium tyres. They wall all waiting at the end of the pit lane

Rosberg and Kobayashi join the track too. Looks like everyone on slicks but it is greasy out there

De la Rosa says "It's really wet out here" and the run from Juncao is very wet. Time to earn your money boys!

Glock is flying in the first sector compared to Kovalainen, Petrov, Pic, de la Rosa and Karthikeyan

Glock dives up the inside of Kovalainen in to Juncao but almost loses it as he runs wide. He was quicker though and set the fastest time initially

Kobayashi now fastest with a 1:24.957

Kobayashi is on hard tyres. Glock goes second with a 1:25.754

Kobayashi improves to a 1:22.415 and then Vergne beats it by just 0.060s

Hulkenberg heads out on intermediate tyres

Still no sign of any of the front runners. Hulkenberg stays out on intermediates to try and set a time

Vergne's improved to a 1:20.567

Hulkenberg runs wide at turn four even though he's on intermediates

The problem is, if it starts to rain again now then then there's a number of drivers who have already banked a dry lap time and there will be a number of drivers in trouble

Maldonado goes fastest on a 1:18.709

Webber heads out on hard tyres

Alonso joins him on hards

Baskaran says: "Hope to have more rains, only way the Great Alonso has a chance in this slow car..."

Vettel is on track now on hard tyres too. Raikkonen goes out on mediums though

Button and Hamilton also on hard tyres. Hulkenberg didn't set a time on intermediates before pitting

Alonso is told that his target is "seven timed laps"

Maldonado improves to a 1:17.894

Senna now quickest with a 1:17.803

These times will continue to drop throughout the session

Webber's first lap is a 1:20.076 for fifth place

Alonso goes third with a 1:18.941

Hamilton does a 1:17.772 to go quickest

Schumacher and Hulkenberg on medium tyres

Alonso goes second quickest with a 1:17.385, while Button slightly improves with a 1:17.346

Vettel only eighth with a 1:18.264

Schumacher yet to set a time, but Glock, Pic and de la Rosa are outside 107% at present

Button goes fourth - 0.266s off the pace

Schumacher's first flying lap is right on the money with a 1:17.365 for second. He's on mediums though

Perez goes fastest but is then beaten by Rosberg, and then di Resta goes top with a 1:16.621

Medium tyres on the midfield teams and that's why they're up there. Add in a drying track and we could get a surprise...

Hamilton retakes top spot with a 1:16.147 while Vettel goes tenth

Grosjean tries to pass an HRT up the inside as the two cars sweep past the pit lane entry - at very high speed - but the HRT doesn't see him ad Grosjean loses his front wing

The front wing folded under Grosjean's car but he made it back to the pits and has a quick change before heading back out. He'll get one lap in - he's 17th and on the edge of dropping out

Maldonado is currently in the drop zone alongside the usual pretenders from Caterham, Marussia and HRT

Maldonado winds up for his one final flying lap. He was held up by Vergne so didn't complete his last lap

If Maldonado can improve on this lap it looks like Grosjean who will drop out - Grosjean isn't improving himself

The flag is out for the end of Q1, but drivers can finish these laps

Maldonado gets held up by de la Rosa but improves to 11th...

Grosjean improves to 16th but then both Toro Rossos beat him and he drops out in 18th

OUT: Grosjean, Petrov, Kovalainen, Glock, Pic, Karthikeyan and de la Rosa

Grosjean was running on hard tyres at the end there, and it cost him as he lost out by 0.2s

Hamilton ended the session quickest from Senna, Button, Hulkenberg, and Vettel. Alonso was down in 10th place

TImes are reset now for the remaining 17 drivers with the track still drying

One thing that Q1 has taught is is there could be a surprise with who makes it through to Q3

The sun is out as Q2 gets under way, and Hulkenberg and Vergne are straight out on track, joined by Ricciardo

The incident between Grosjean and de la Rosa will be investigated after qualifying

Hulkenberg starts his flying lap on medium tyres

Alonso's gone out on hard tyres

Hulkenberg does a 1:14.810 on his first lap - 0.7s than his best in Q1

Alonso goes quickest with a 1:14.631. The track is drying quickly

Hulkenberg's second lap puts him just 0.006s slower than Alonso

No sign of either Red Bull or McLaren yet

Massa with the fastest first sector. Schumacher is on the medium tyres but can't match Alonso

Alonso improves to a 1:14.288, while Massa does a 1:14.524

Vettel is visualising the lap in his head - 8 minutes left and Vettel, Webber, Button and Hamilton remain in the pits

Senna sets the fastest final sector as he goes fourth with a 1:14.672 on the medium tyres

Hamilton heads out on the medium tyre

Maldonado pits having been improving on his last lap

Webber heads out on medium tyres too

And Vettel has put on a set of mediums for his run

Six minutes to go and only Button yet to head out in Q2. Confidence?

Four timed laps is the message to Vettel

Alonso joins the track on a new set of medium tyres despite currently being fastest

Hamilton straight out and straight away fastest. 1:13.398 puts him 0.9s clear

Button's on track now too and we have all 17 cars out there

Vettel goes quickest with a 1:13.209

Alonso and Massa down to fifth and sixth at present

Raikkonen's gone third with a 1:13.698

Times tumbling. Maldonado goes fourth with an identical time to Raikkonen

Alonso is down to eighth and Massa outside the top ten with 90 seconds to go...

Few drivers improving as Alonso starts another flying lap

Webber goes up to fourth

Massa is 12th and starts a flying lap

Vettel pits; he's through. Alonso does a personal best first sector but not a great middle sector

Alondo doesn't improve, he's vulnerable in eighth...

Massa is struggling too...

Massa goes tenth, will it be enough to stay in?

Schumacher 14th and out

Senna can't improve and stays 12th

That's it, everyone's done and Ferrari JUST make it through. Alonso is ninth and Massa tenth.

OUT: Di Resta, Senna, Perez, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Ricciardo and Vergne

Great job by Raikkonen having missed out on FP3 to be fifth quickest

Replays show that Maldonado was called to the weighbridge during Q2. He could be in trouble, he made it through in sixth place

We look set for a dry Q3 too, and in that case you'd have to say it's set to be a fight between Vettel and Hamilton for pole. Bad news for Ferrari too

Schumacher tells Sky that he hasn't had payback yet for a wet set-up. 71 laps are all that's left in his Formula One career

Bob asks: "During the race, the commentators mention how after warming the tires, the first few laps of maximum grip are important. During qualifying, some drivers run only 8 or 12 laps across a few tire sets. Others nearly 30. Does that affect the race strategy?"

The drivers that get through to Q3 and complete the most laps use the hard tyres first, which are less sensitive to giving up grip early. It does affect race strategy because the Q3 drivers can't run as long on their first set of tyres, but it's the same for all around them

Q3 is under way but nobody eager to get out on track with no threat of rain now

Rosberg, Hamilton and Alonso the first three out. Rosberg will set the first time but he's taking it easy

Rosberg does a 1:22.398 but that's not a representative time

Hamilton with the fastest first sector

Hamilton goes fastest with a 1:12.850. He's the first man under 1m13s this weekend. That is some lap

Alonso 0.6s off in second place with a 1:13.463

Massa beats Alonso's time with a 1:13.258

Webber does a 1:13.070. What can Button and Vettel do?

Button goes second with a 1:12.980

Vettel is a second down through sector two so he'll have to go again. Only sixth for Vettel at the moment behind Alonso

Vettel ran wide at turn four and was also off line later in the lap

Hulkenberg just 0.1s down in sector one of his only flying lap. Maldonado is yet to go out on track while Raikkonen hasn't set a time yet

Hulkenberg goes fourth with a 1:13.206 - a good lap

Alonso heads back out

Button and Vettel released at the same time, leaving Button ahead of the Red Bull

Raikkonen goes sixth ahead of Alonso and Vettel

Webber starts his flying lap first

Vettel has passed Button on track

Webber with the fastest first sector

Everyone on their final laps

Webber is 0.238s up through sector two

Webber goes fastest! Provisional pole...

Alonso can only go fifth

Maldonado goes fourth

Here's Hamilton...

Hamilton takes provisional pole!

VETTEL ONLY THIRD!

BUTTON MAKES IT A MCLAREN ONE-TWO! LEWIS HAMILTON ON POLE

Vettel may only need fourth for the title, but he can only qualify fourth! Alonso is down in eighth place as Massa improves to fifth place, right behind Vettel...

What a way for Hamilton to sign off with McLaren, with pole position

Hamilton took pole by just 0.055s from Button, with Webber less than 0.1s further back in third. Vettel was unusually slow compared to Webber - 0.2s off his team-mate

Button looks genuinely delighted as he congratulates Hamilton on the one-two. Vettel is staring at the timing screen in the weigh room and looks far from happy

Hamilton's 26th pole position and it could be his last for a while. He points to the "Thank You McLaren" message on the top of his helmet as he walks through parc ferme

Vettel is still staring at those timing screens, crouched in front of them. He was 0.3s off pole and 0.2s slower than Webber. Alonso didn't deal with the pressure very well either as he was over 0.2s slower than Massa.

Stefano Domenicali confirms that Ferrari will not repeat its gearbox penalty move tomorrow; there's no big difference between grid slots here like there was in Austin

Well, well, well. What a session that was. Hamilton signs off with a pole for McLaren, Button makes it a one-two and Vettel can only manage fourth. With Alonso back in eighth it doesn't look good for Ferrari, but Massa is right behind Vettel to try and complicate things tomorrow. Add in rain and we've got an absolute classic on our hands to decide the 2012 championship. Join us for live coverage tomorrow, but stick with ESPNF1.com for all the reaction to today's qualifying and all the build-up to tomorrow's race. Bye for now.