Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the final grand prix weekend of the 2012 season. After 19 races the title will be decided at the final round for the 27th time, and it all boils down to Vettel v Alonso...

Firstly, let's deal with the title permutations. Sebastian Vettel needs to finish in the top four to win the championship; even if Fernando Alonso wins the race then Vettel will be champion as long as he's fourth or higher. If Alonso is second then Vettel needs to finish seventh or higher to take the title, and if Alonso is third then Vettel only needs to finish ninth or higher to become champion.

If Alonso doesn't finish on the podium, Vettel is champion for a third successive year regardless.

But that's all for Sunday. Today it's a warm and sunny day which should see the teams getting two dry practice sessions. They may not be all that relevant, though, as thunderstorms are predicted for Saturday which could cause a wet qualifying session, and the race day forecast currently reads 'Rain. Chance of precipitation: 100%'

On to some breaking news this morning, though, and we have not one, not two, but THREE driver announcements!

Two of these are at Sauber: Esteban Gutierrez has been confirmed as a race driver in 2013, with Robin Frijns announced as the team's test and reserve driver. So Kamui Kobayashi leaves the team.

The other announcement is at Caterham, where Charles Pic joins the team on a "multi-year deal" from 2013, leaving Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov sweating over their futures.

I expect all of that news has stirred up a bit of interest, so if you want to get in touch with your views and opinions we would love to hear from you. Either email us using the link above or get in touch via Twitter @ESPNF1

You want some more dynamics this weekend? OK, well how about this being the last FP1 that Michael Schumacher will participate in, and also the last one for Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren (for now anyway, as he's said he'd like to return in future). Could it be the final first practice session for HRT too?

And that's not everything today! This morning's session will be busier than usual because Pirelli has supplied the teams with two sets of its 2013 tyres to gather data as the construction affects aerodynamics next season. Paul Hembery told me in Abu Dhabi that the rears will deflect more, while the suspension geometry will also be affected, so it's crucial running time for the teams.

Matt emails in to ask: "Kamui: any chance for him anywhere? Real shame he was my fave"

Options look slim for 2013, but Kobayashi says he is working on a sponsor to help his chances with a big team for 2014. The only available seats next year are one at Force India, one at Caterham, one at Marussia and potentially one at HRT if the team survives. We understand Paul di Resta already has a deal in place at Force India and that Williams will field Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas next year.

A sign of Kovalainen's future? Giedo van der Garde is in his Caterham for FP1. Valtteri Bottas is also in the Williams in place of Senna this morning

FP1 is under way and Romain Grosjean is first out on track

This is Bottas' 15th Friday appearance for Williams, he's gained a lot of experience but it's meant Senna has lost out on 22.5 hours of track time

Craig from Peterborough asks: "Any news on HRT's future? Rumours don't sound promising."

No news as yet but de la Rosa admitted yesterday that the future was uncertain. We believe the team has a deadline of December 2 to find a buyer.

Bottas sets the first lap of the day with a 1:21.218

The 2013 tyre is marked in orange compared to the white medium and silver hard this weekend, and while we don't know the exact compound it is softer than the other two this weekend

Gary emails in on the topic of Senna's lack of running: "So Bruno even suffers at home with missing FP1, thanks Williams! That sucks! 22.5hrs of track time lost for Bruno! So how on earth was he every expected to do well in qualifying! Poor Williams, very poor."

A lot of the installation laps are taking place on the 2013 tyre while the track is low on grip

Just expanding on Craig's HRT questions, here's what de la Rosa said when Laurence asked him about his feelings for next year:

"I have very neutral emotions at the moment. I have to keep my head down and get the job done. People might think that it's easy further down the grid but I think it's a lot more difficult to handle this situation and forget about the rest. Monday will be another day and we will see what happens with the team next week or in a couple of weeks or whenever, but I try not to think about it."

Matt emails in about Senna and says: "I agree. I think he has done a good job this year, More finishes than Maldonado.. just missing the Win.... Williams were sure happy to take his money and use his name.. then shafted him in practice."

Gary asks about Senna's prospects for next season. He may be targeting a seat at Caterham but I think Petrov will probably remain there, while Sutil or Bianchi seem to be favourites for the second Force India seat. Caterham's his most likely destination, but far from a certainty

Perez goes fastest with a 1:17.750. Only two times set so far

Perez lowers that mark to a 1:15.869

Glock and Pic both on track at present - they're looking to defend 10th in the constructors' championship from Caterham. Ironic, seeing as Pic is heading to Caterham next year...

Schumacher sets the second fastest time with a 1:17.698

Webber is running the 2013 tyres and has a sensor on his rear wing to analyse the airflow from it

Hamilton sets the fastest time with a 1:14.374

Tony emails in to say: "Hi I just hope Vettel get the title this weekend, especially after what Ferrari did last week, whether it was within the rules or not, for Ferrari to actually break a gearbox seal intentionally is unbelievable and Alonso has gone down in my estimations to expect Felipe to go along with it. If Alonso should get the title by some quirk of fate what a travesty that would be"

Hamilton locks up slightly and runs wide at turn one. He's running the 2013 tyres

Massa is running a different helmet design this weekend, with the colours his Dad used to use. He wants to win this race to help Alonso take the title, but I don't think he's likely to be allowed to do that

Mike says in reply to Tony's email: "If Red Bull would do it, it would be awesome, but just because Ferrari does it, it's wrong?? Go Ferrari , Go Alonso!"

Last weekend was certainly one to split opinion

Hamilton radios in to say he feels the 2013 tyres are overheating already...

Eustace says: "I think Alonso deserves the title more than anyone this season. He never had the best car but has always pulled out more than the maximum. Ferrari didn't go beyond the rules and flex their front wings! Coming from a Mclaren fan."

Maldonado on the 2013 tyres does a 1:15.961 for third quickest

Petrov runs a little bit wide at turn five, while Vettel goes third with a 1:15.909

Vettel goes a 1:14.443 to go 0.3s slower than Hamilton. All times on the 2013 tyres at present

Harmen asks: "Have you noted any special updates on the Red Bull? also, im curious to find out whether ferrari have finally resolved their suspected diffuser/rear wing issue .. any changes on this front? thanks!"

Nothing on the Red Bull that we've seen yet - it tends to run lots of little updates that bring a collective gain. Ferrari doesn't appear to be testing any new parts at the rear of the car either as we haven't seen any flo-viz paint on the rear of the car. Alonso does have a revised front wing though

Svenito doesn't really take a side in the Alonso/Massa gearbox debate but says: "Tony, I think you must be young as you are seeing F1 in an idealistic light. Do not forget, it is mainly about business, every team breaks the rules if they can get away with it, you better believe it. There are no Angels in F1"

Button goes third with a 1:14.505

Siddhesh emails in to ask: "Why are Mercedes moving back to the Non-Coanda exhaust? It was very slow in Austin Qualy, and didn't perform that much better in the race, given where Rosberg finished. Have Mercedes forgotten that they still have Sauber in their rearview mirrors? Very disappointing, the final race for Schumi and Mercedes are more focused on experimenting rather than giving him a car that can score some points."

Mercedes is running the old exhausts because the Coanda-effect can overheat the tyres. Mercedes doesn't fully understand its Coanda exhausts so is running a configuration it is more comfortable with in order to properly analyse the 2013 tyres. With the difference between exhausts so small and Coanda reducing top speed (we're at 810m above sea level here so power output is reduced) it looks set to stick with the old style for the whole weekend

Vettel and Button both improve. Hamilton stays quickest but now just 0.086 covers the top three

Anoop emails in to say: "Fernando Alonso is fighting hard not only this season but all three seasons where the Ferrari is not capable of winning races."

While Vinay adds: "Don't forget that Alonso would be champion by now if both Lotus drivers didn't take him out. So he rightfully deserves to win the championship."

Hamilton rejoins the track, while Alonso heads out for the first time for a timed run

Henrik emails in on the driver market:

"This is getting more and more ridiculous. While manufactures maintain that F1 is all about cutting-edge technology, they seem to be completely indifferent to the fact that they place this technology into the hands of second or third rate drivers - as long as they pay! The basis for the sport is primarily competition between drivers to determine who is the best. There is no way that Charles Pic is or ever will be a better driver than either of Petrov or Kovalainen. Does Sauber really think Gutierrez is a better bet that the exciting, experienced and proven Kobayashi? Williams' stupid practice of putting Bottas in a car all year has cost Senna 22½ hours of vital FP1 practice time, how many more points could the team have had and how much more prize money could they look forward to if they hadn't shot themselves in the foot all year long?. The main question though is how long F1 fans and TV audiences will put up with these shenanigans.

Thanks for a great year of live coverage of the Free Practices, qualifying and races!"

However, David adds another view: "Why the complaints about Senna missing the friday sessions? You can be sure that it was very clear in his contract and that he accepted it."

That is a fair point David makes. Senna wanted the seat badly enough that he accepted those terms. If he'd demanded to do every Friday practice session he may not be in F1 at all...

Webber improves to sixth, a second off the pace

Rahulan says: "While Vettel can say he too had his fair share of luck with failures, he has to understand failures are a result of unreliable components. Fernando has failed to score only when someone else ruined his races. The most deserving champion would be Fernando"

Massa pits having got within 0.6s of Hamilton

Alonso's done a 1:14.792 so he's 0.6s slower than Vettel at present

Kiran emails in to say: "Has Vettel done anything wrong ? He is a damn good driver & has a great machine. He is putting in equal effort as any other guys in the races. So why not simply say, Vettel deserves and is the rightfully champion or would be champion this year!"

Have to say I personally agree. Whoever wins the title will be fully deserving; Vettel has made very few mistakes himself and is taking advantage of the car he has much more than his team-mate

Hamilton is still complaining that the tyres are overheating but he's doing consistent laps just 0.2s off his best

Alonso pits after improving to a 1:14.605

Grosjean does a 1:14.719 to go sixth

Maldonado runs wide exiting turn four. It's a shame to see so many concrete run-off areas here now, namely at turn one where the Senna S has seen concrete replace grass

Glock is the latest man to run wide at turn four

Nice touch on Schumacher's helmet: "Life is about sharing passions, thank you for sharing mine"

George emails in to say: "A lot of RBR hate, Alonso has only himself to blame for the incident with Raikonen and frankly I am fed up with his constant complains to the FIA in hopes to get somebody penalized. So I very much hope to see Red Bull take the drivers' championship and McLaren taking second in constructors' championship. I used to be a Ferrari fan but their shameless tactics of trying to win through other means than being the best are pathetic. They should focus on developing the car instead trying to exploit others' problems and always calling for the FIA to hider others."

And Gerrit is also backing Vettel this weekend: "Firstly, very sad that Ferrari opt to play dirty to win the title and referring to have Massa to take a deliberate penalty. With reference to Vettel and that he has got a fast car and that being the reason he is where he is. If that was the case, why don't we see Webber up in no 1 spot. Surely the cars are equal. No, Vettel is the real deal and he will celebrate this weekend."

Still no sign of either HRT joining the track after completing installation laps. Both cars ran reduced sessions in America because it has minimal spare parts

Tony emails in to say:

"I don't really want to get into disputes about the drivers title but have to say this after some of the comments, lets not forget for half the season the red bull was not handling well and whether it was down to high down force or maybe the Renault engine is not as fast as the Ferrari or the Mercedes but it was about the slowest car through the speed traps, also lets not forget without Vettel losing those 20 secs penalty and subsequently dropping in the points and the alternator failure this championship would have been over by now. Regarding Alonso having a much inferior car, I just wonder how he beat Hamilton also if his car was that bad, strange he could not get the better of Louis at McLaren in what was an equal car."

Perez joins the long list of drivers running wide at turn four

Only three laps from Raikkonen so far today too; he's yet to set a time. It's been an easy weekend for him so far as he didn't show up yesterday so missed media sessions and engineering meetings

A bit of an engine issue for Raikkonen is the cause of his lack of running, and a change of spark plugs should have sorted it now

Vettel improves, but he's still not quicker than Hamilton. The gap between the two is now 0.009s

De la Rosa heads out on track with 35 minutes remaining

The driver's title is clearly splitting opinion, as Navin says: "I think Vettel fully deserves the WDC this year, since he's had to fight not only all the drivers in F1, but also his TEAMMATE from Day 1. Not to forget, he's had his alternator issues which cost him victory in Valencia...and it was Alonso's own mistake in Suzuka which resulted in no points. If anyone's been lucky with weather and retirements this season, it's Alonso. - From a Hamilton fan"

Ylli emails in: "Fighting with all you got means that you want that title with your heart and your soul, RBR deserved the constructors. But clearly Fernando Alonso deserves the drivers championship title!"

Mahendra emails in to say: "Mercedes on its older exhaust setup will be strong on rain on Sunday.As it was seen earlier that they are strong in rain where Michael quailfied 3rd and 4th in Silverstone and Germany..I hope it rains in both Qualifying as well as on race day.Let the Legend retire with a win at least. Mercedes has to do something for him.He has given everything fr last 3 year with that dog of a car.."

Raikkonen heads out on hard tyres and then returns to the pits after one lap

Both HRTs on track, while Perez locks up his front right in to turn seven

Sounds like Raikkonen's engine issue still isn't solved; the engine is switched off and he's back in the garage

Domingoz says: "Perhaps Tony (10:16) may not be young. Perhaps he just see things in a proper perspective...it is a pity that in Formula 1 these principles are not valid. Tony continues to be genuine because that is the right way ;-) "

Vettel sets the fastest final sector but doesn't improve his best time

Webber improves to a 1:14.514

A busy track now, with 15 cars out there on the second shortest circuit of the season

Eustace emails in on a different topic: "HRT has been embarrassing since they started. I really hope if they are still around next year that they would improve a lot, else they should rather join GP2 or something! I think the FIA should up the 107% rule too... the fact that drivers go to a race and have to prepare themselves to get out of the way is embarrassing to the sport."

Prashant asks: "I would request you to confirm who was responsible for the clash between Raikkonen and Alonso at Suzuka?"

As there was no penalty for either driver then it was dismissed as a racing incident at turn one. I actually wrote a piece saying it was arguably Alonso's very slight error, but the main point was that it showed a slight difference in Alonso's approach as he tried to push a bit too hard in the face of Vettel's improving pace in the Red Bull. It remains only the second mistake he's made all year after his spin in Melbourne qualifying

Hamilton's out on the hard tyres and not improving so he pits. Webber has gone third on a 1:14.198 - the two McLarens and two Red Bulls covered by just 0.086s

Ron emails in to say: "I am no fan of Ferrari but you are slanting your coverage towards RBR. Clearly the RBR has been faster than the Ferrari and yet Alonso could still win the title. Could the same be said if they were driving the other's car all year. I think Alonso would have had the driver's championship sewn up weeks ago if he was in an RBR."

I think we'd all love to see Alonso v Vettel in a Red Bull! And in no way am I anti-Ferrari; Laurence in the paddock has been backing Vettel to win the title all season and I've been saying Alonso will since the middle of the year (after admittedly backing Button in our pre-season podcast!)

The gaps in lap time are smaller here due to the short nature of the lap, and as a result the whole field is covered by 3.7s

Hamilton says on the radio: "I don't think we're doing the right thing with these tyres." Engineer: "Is it overheating you're suffering from again, Lewis?" Hamilton: "Well we killed them on the first run"

It wouldn't surprise me if Hamilton is pushing to get to work on the race tyres and race set-up so that he has the best chance of winning this weekend. McLaren's 2013 work doesn't really matter to him anymore

Adam emails in to say: "I understand all the question marks surrounding Ferrari's decision to give Massa a penalty to assist Alonso in Texas, what should also be remembered is Red Bull's decision to move Vettel to the pit lane in the GP before in order to make adjustments to his car that would ultimately assist his progress in following traffic, not to mention flexing wings, tilting wings, wholes in floors, flexing floors & now flexing noses. RBR are using the rules well beyond the limits or fairness"

Fredrik adds: "When you discuss retirement you must consider if it is internal reasons as Vettel (engine failure) or external as Alonso (ran down by Lotus). Internal reasons is the own teams fault/responsibility. Talking about luck and weather is nonsense. It is the same for everybody."

That's another good point to pick up on. Unless a driver's mistake causes a mechanical failure or they cause an incident that takes them out of a race then the blame can't fall on the driver for retiring

Back on track, with 16 minutes to go we haven't seen times improve for a while as drivers switch to the harder race tyres. Schumacher still circulating on the 2013 tyres and he's 2.4s off the pace in 19th place

Jason asks: "Just like to ask. After the race in Brazil, Is Lewis Hamilton will be officially w/ Mercedes? Same w/ Sergio Perez w/ McLaren? Or they need to wait until the year ends?"

As far as I'm aware they will remain as employees of their current teams until January 1

Impressive showing from van der Garde at present - 0.1s up on his team-mate Petrov and ahead of Bottas too

Raikkonen's back on track, but is the engine issue fixed?

Looks like it as he starts a flying lap...

Raikkonen's first lap is on the hard compound tyres and he's done a 1:16.979

As I pointed out earlier, we're unsure just how soft the 2013 tyres are so it's hard to gauge the difference between compound times

Vinay asks: "Any idea what's Ferrari doing?"

It has been running back-to-back comparisons between front wings, with Alonso running a newer version

We have a yellow flag... and Massa's had a spin. Ooops.

Massa had spun at Pinheirinho after just getting on the power a bit too early

Grosjean runs wide at Murgulho and the car sparks as he runs over the kerbs

Bottas becomes the latest driver to run wide on the exit of turn four (Descida do Lago)

Times on the hard tyre are slower than the 2013s, with Raikkonen doing a 1:15.968 on the hards - 1.3s slower than team-mate Grosjean's time on the 2013 tyres

Only Alonso is in the garage at the moment

Vettel says: "I'm starting to feel some vibrations now" on the radio. The response from Rocky his engineer is: "Understood", so could be a flat spot that they were aware of

Oooh, close one as Kobayashi goes to throw it up the inside of di Resta in to Bico de Pato and the Force India turns in on him. Kobayashi with a bit lock-up and he just stops in time

Raikkonen pits and heads out; he's 1.6s off the pace on the hards

Perez locks up in to turn one and then blocks Grosjean in turn two

Vettel with a good first sector on the hard tyres, but he's 0.8s down on his best in sector two. He's been on track for a while but his latest lap is 0.9s slower than his best

Alonso is still on the 2013 tyre, but we may see him improving

Alonso does improve; he stays fifth but is now only 0.284s slower than Hamilton

Glock spins at Bico de Pato as he takes too much kerb. Hamilton takes evasive action as he was following fairly closely behind

Prashant says: "With Alonso winning in Spain and Kobayashi on podium in Japan, I would like to see Massa winning the race here."

Based on his performance in Austin you'd say he'd have a chance in normal circumstances if it were to rain, but with a title to be decided it's unlikely

The chequered flag falls and Schumacher goes 11th with a 1:15.114 having put the 2013 tyres on at the end

Here comes Alonso again, and again he improves - this time to a 1:14.392 - but stays fifth. 0.261s off the quickest time, and then he conducts a constant speed test on the run towards turn four

So a tough session to decipher with different tyres available. In fact, nigh-on impossible. Hamilton is quickest on the 2013 tyre while the two Red Bull's set their best times on hards. Button makes it 0.086s covering the top four with his best time on the 2013 tyre, while Alonso improved late on - also on next year's tyres - to set a time 0.261s slower than Hamilton.

As you can see there's little we can take from that with regards to the championship battle and this weekend's race, but the teams will have got lots of data for next year. Hopefully we'll see more consistent and comparable runs on this weekend's tyres in FP2, but thank you so much for the overwhelming number of emails on the championship debate. Join us in two hours' time for the build-up to the second session to see the pecking order in the dry. Bye for now.