Hello and welcome to ESPNF1's live coverage of the Belgian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel lines up on pole position, but he has Lewis Hamilton right alongside him. The biggest unknown, of course, is weather, which for the moment is dry...

Rain isn't forecast at present, with only a 20% chance. But of course, you can never trust the Spa weather, as yesterday's qualifying session showed.

There's also been a bit of a metaphorical storm brewing at the circuit, as blistering tyres have been causing controversy. Laurence has the full story for you here.

I mention yesterday's qualifying session, and it led to a few surprise performances. Jaime Alguersuari starts sixth, and Bruno Senna seventh on his Renault debut. Fernando Alonso is down in eighth while Jenson Button has to start 13th after a breakdown in communications with McLaren which led to him cooling his tyres without time for another lap.

If you were hoping for rain and disappointed by the forecast, take heart from Vitaly Petrov's words to the BBC: "The rain is coming."

The blistering tyres story is likely to continue after the race. Pictures of Vettel earlier today show him very angry with a Pirelli official; a lot of pointing and gesturing and standing extremely close. He's not always all smiles, the championship leader...

Now if you want to get in touch with us with your predictions and about any of the on-track action, then we want to hear from you. You can do so using the link above or via Twitter @ESPNF1_live.

WilliamsF1Team on Twitter: "No rain forecast..." - since when did the forecast count?

Mike Gascoyne on Twitter: "Going to be all about tyre management, blistering wil be a big factor today"

We can expect some fast starters today, the run to La Source is short but then the cars are at full throttle for 23 seconds until Les Combes, with plenty of opportunity to slipstream. Obviously the pack will still be very bunched and we saw a lot of cars ending the race in the barrier at Les Combes in 2009.

We're away on the formation lap, and Schumacher is on the medium tyre rather than the soft. Apparently Button is too, but everyone else on soft.

Confirmation, Button is on medium as well.

Sebastian Vettel leads the field on to the grid and takes up his pole position on the right hand side. Rosberg's car is smoking heavily as the lights come on...

Lap 1

Vettel leads away, Rosberg with a great start in to second. And he takes the lead at Les Combes! Webber with a poor start, straight back to eighth. Contact for Alguersuari in turn one and he's down in 24th with a broken suspension.

Massa passes Hamilton for third. Hamilton slow here and dropped off towards Alonso. The front three close together over the line.

Lap 2

Alonso passes Hamilton at Radillon, the Ferrari a lot quicker in a straight line.

Senna, Glock and Kovalainen pit. It appears Alguersuari and Senna came together at La Source.

Alguersuari retires his car on the run down to Blanchimont.

Lap 3

Rosberg continues to lead with Vettel close behind. Alonso is quickest on the track and catching up with his team-mate.

DRS has been enabled, and Vettel cruises past Rosberg along the Kemmel straight to retake the lead.

Lap 4

Replays of the start show a lot of contact. Senna steamed in to the side of Alguersuari and caused Alonso to run wide.

Vettel sets a much faster lap to pull out a 1.6s lead. Alonso challenging Massa but can't get by. Webber and Button pit - a new front wing for the McLaren. Webber must be struggling with his blistered tyres.

Lap 5

Vettel says he can see the marks on his front tyres that show blistering. Rosberg has both Ferrari's all over the back of him, but Massa is comprimised and Alonso dives up the inside in to turn eight. Side-by-side racing at Ferrari and Massa tries to come back, but Alonso squeezes him out and Hamilton muscles past Massa in to Pouhon.

Lap 6

Vettel pits, obviously unhappy with the tyres. Webber is the fastest man on track. Vettel rejoins ahead of Buemi who has a broken rear wing but still takes Eau Rouge flat out!

Senna and Glock under investigation for first corner incidents.

Rosberg has Alonso all over the back of him, and Hamilton has joined the party too. This is for the lead as Vettel has pitted.

Lap 7

Drive through penalties for Senna and Glock. Buemi has pitted too with that rear wing.

Alonso nails Eau Rouge and uses the DRS to cruise past Rosberg for the lead.

Hamilton complains on the radio about his front tyres but stays out to pressure Rosberg.

Lap 8

Hamilton uses DRS to pass Rosberg for second place, and sets off after Alonso, who has a 2.4s lead. Vettel has just passed Kobayashi for fifth place having set the fastest lap, and is catching the leaders quickly.

Lap 9

Alonso pits, and Hamilton leads. Vettel was 1.7 seconds than Hamilton on that lap so is definitely in a net lead. Alonso rejoins just ahead of Webber and Webber bravely passes around the outside of Eau Rouge. If Alonso had kept his foot in those two would have had a huge crash.

Buemi has retired.

Lap 10

Webber passes Sutil in to the chicane, and then Alonso follows him through out of La Source. Again he's quick through Eau Rouge and retakes Webber in to Les Combes. Webber is on medium tyres.

Vettel is close behind Rosberg, and passes him brilliantly around the outside of Radillon for second. Hamilton pits so Vettel leads comfortably again, but complains about blistering.

Lap 11

Hamilton rejoins a long way behind Alonso and Webber back in eighth place.

Petrov is fourth behind Kobayashi having not pitted, but Webber passes the Renault in to Pouhon.

Michael Schumacher up in 12th and holding off Massa and Button. He's made a pit stop too.

Lap 12

Rosberg pits and loses some time as he changes tyres. He rejoins behind his team-mate, despite having led the race earlier.

Hamilton passes Sutil in to Pouhon for sixth. He then passes Petrov for fifth place in to the bus stop. At the front, Vettel leads by 6.4s but Alonso is setting fastest laps.

Lap 13

Hamilton cruises past Kobayashi for fourth in to Eau Rouge. But Kobayashi tries to come back around the outside in to Les Combes and they come together. Hamilton spears in to the barriers at speed and is out of the race. He's slow to move out of the car too.

Lap 14

Lots of pit stops being made under the safety car. Kobayashi had got half alongside the outside, but then Hamilton moved back across slightly. Kobayashi had put his car in a strange place, and on board we see that Hamilton moved across only slightly. McLaren report that Hamilton is fine.

Lap 15

Still behind the safety car, Ricciardo has retired. Kobayashi and di Resta pit. Vettel pitted for a second time so is now third behind Alonso and Webber.

Lap 16

Michael Schumacher has done well under the safety car, he's ninth having made two pit stops. Alonso, of course, started eighth in this race. Sutil is up to sixth and and Perez seventh. Bruno Senna, on debut, is 15th after two stops as well.

Safety car in this lap. Alonso backs up the pack.

Lap 17

Alonso leads away, and Webber holds off Vettel. Rosberg passes Massa for fourth in to Les Combes, while Vettel cruises past Webber and attacks Alonso.

Petrov has gone backwards on restart and Schumacher is up to seventh. Button attacks Petrov in to the chicane but can't get past.

Lap 18

Vettel passes Alonso for the lead in to Les Combes.

Great driving from Button, he goes around the outside of Petrov in to La Source and then keeps it wide to out-drag Perez for eighth.

Lap 19

Fastest lap from Vettel, over two seconds quicker than Alonso.

Barrichello passes Perez for tenth in to La Source, but then Perez returns the favour using DRS. Di Resta is watching from close behind in 13th having started 17th.

Lap 20

Another fastest lap from Vettel, he's in a league of his own. A full second quicker than Alonso, and then 1.4s faster than Webber. Nobody else within two seconds of his pace.

Rosberg still holding up Massa. Sutil can't keep pace and has both Schumacher and Button close behind. Schumacher defends well in to the chicane, but Button is in DRS ditance...

Lap 21

The Mercedes is very quick in a straight line, and the DRS doesn't help Button at all. Vettel's last lap was only 0.8s quicker than Alonso and Webber.

Button throws it up the inside of Schumacher in to the chicane and gets the move done.

Lap 22

Perez has a drive through for causing a collision. Alonso getting closer to Vettel's pace, but the gap is now 4s.

Button attacks Sutil in to the chicane but is forced to the outside and can't get through.

Lap 23

Button passes Sutil using DRS around the outside in to Les Combes. Good driving from both. Next up is Massa for the McLaren. Vettel's tyres looking badly blistered again, but he is still quickest on track.

Lap 24

Only Alonso and Vettel are quicker than Button right now, and of course having started 13th he has the optimal setup he wanted. He's right on the back of Massa now. Button this time around the outside of the chicane, muscles his way past Massa for fifth place.

Lap 25

Button is driving very well right now, and he has got the medium compound tyre out of the way already. As has Webber, so they have options available to them. The front three are all on equal pace now...

Lap 26

Here's Button again and he's all over the back of Rosberg. It takes until Les Combes for him to cruise by using DRS. Up to fourth place. Two stops down, and 16 seconds off the lead. Button asks how far in front the next cars are. He's really in the zone now, and quickest man on the track.

Lap 27

Massa is catching Rosberg, with Sutil closing in too. Rosberg is slow at the moment.

Matt emails in to ask about the tyre situation. Red Bull are really getting hurt with blistering on the soft tyre, but Alonso is having a similar issue. Webber is on the medium tyre at the moment to counteract that, but it's less of an issue for the charging Button...

Lap 28

Perez has gone off the track, and returns to the pits with what looks like damaged suspension.

Lap 29

15 laps to go, and Button takes 0.4s out of Vettel's lead. He is the quickest man on track and took a full second out of Webber in front on the last lap.

Lap 30

Vettel continues, but Alonso pits for a set of medium tyres. It will be interesting to see his pace, but he'll be going to the end of the race on these tyres. He rejoins in clear air in fourth place. Vettel pits.

Vettel's pace is good compared to Webber, but Button is on it now. A second quicker than Vettel and 1.5s quicker than Webber.

Lap 31

Vettel rejoins behind Button. He's on medium tyres now, so we'll see what his pace is like. Alonso set the fastest middle sector on fresh rubber. Vettel's middle sector is quicker than Button's.

Rosberg passes Barrichello having come out of the pits, and Massa is close behind.

Lap 32

Webber pits so Button leads, but Vettel cruises past using DRS to regain the lead. Alonso sets the fastest lap of the race. Webber put on medium tyres too, so he, Alonso and Vettel will be going to the end of the race.

Lap 33

Button pits for his final set of soft tyres. He will need a special final stint to get in to podium contention.

Massa pits for a third time after a puncture, and Kobayashi passes him in to Les Combes for 11th.

Lap 34

Vettel leads from Alonso by 6.5s, with Webber 10.7s off the lead and 1.5s quicker than Vettel on that last lap. Vettel will need to make these tyres last until the end of the race if he wants victory. Webber and Button are a second quicker than Alonso and Vettel in the middle sector.

Schumacher passes Sutil for sixth using DRS. He's now chasing down his team-mate for fifth.

Lap 35

Paul di Resta is up to tenth place, but has Massa closing in on him.

Webber reeling in Alonso. The gap down to 2.5s.

Lap 36

Make that 0.9s now as Webber and Button keep reeling the front two in. Webber within 8 seconds of the lead, Button 14.7s off the lead. Webber now on the back of Alonso but yet to find a way through.

Lap 37

Webber's pace is impressive and he eases past Alonso using DRS. Vettel reacted on that last lap as well with a 1:50.4, which was quickest of the top four.

Sutil has Petrov close behind him, while Massa is now ahead of di Resta.

Lap 38

Schumacher is close behind Rosberg in the Mercedes battle for fifth, and Rosberg is told they are free to race. Refreshing.

Button is now less than five seconds behind Alonso and sensing a podium. He isn't closing the gap to Vettel or Webber quickly enough, though.

Massa passes Maldonado for ninth place using the DRS.

Lap 39

Vettel leads by 7.1s. Button is just 3.8s behind Alonso and told "let's get Alonso" as he turns his engine up.

Lap 40

Five laps to go and Button has the gap down to 2.6s. He's 12.8s off the lead and still quickest on track.

Lap 41

1.5s between Alonso and Button. 6.1s is the gap at the front. Schumacher still close behind Rosberg and Rosberg is told to save fuel.

Barrichello runs in to the back of Kobayashi and has to pit for a new front wing. Senna is close behind Kobayashi in the battle for 12th.

Lap 42

Button now within 0.7s of Alonso, and then he uses DRS before making it around the outside in to Les Combes for third place. Webber is five seconds up the road and out of reach.

Schumacher uses DRS to take fifth place from his team-mate.

Lap 43

Webber is 5.2s behind Vettel and 4.8s ahead of Button. Just the two laps to go and Vettel is easing towards another victory.

Maldonado is up in tenth and on for his first point.

Lap 44

On the final lap, Button hasn't closed on Webber, although Vettel's lead is just 4.2s now.

Senna still can't get past Kobayashi.

Vettel negotiates the final chicane and comes home to take victory, while Mark Webber crosses the line 3.7s behind to make it a Red Bull one-two. Jenson Button is third after an impressive drive from thirteenth.

Alonso comes home fourth, with Schumacher leading Rosberg over the line having started last - a great drive on his 20th anniversary.

Petrov with a very slow lap loses out to Massa right at the end and comes to a stop immediately having crossed the line having finished ninth.

Adrian Newey says "Am I relieved to see you boys" as he greets Webber and Vettel before the podium. Tyres were a worry for Red Bull all day but they managed the situation impressively.

Vettel stands on the top step once again, although he hasn't been there since the European Grand Prix in Valencia back in June. Christian Horner mouths "Well done" from the pit wall. His lead is now 92 points in the driver's championship, and that's over his team-mate Mark Webber.

Vettel holds aloft his trophy, and Adrian Newey is all smiles as he raises the constructors plate.

Strangely, a race not affected by rain. Less strangely, Sebastian Vettel wins in the dry. Lewis Hamilton will rue his collision with Kobayashi as he may well have been most likely to challenge the Red Bull's, but both Button and Webber delivered impressive recovery drives.

Even if the championship appears to be firmly in Vettel's hands, we're in for a fantastic second half of the season. Who will be on top at Monza in two weeks time? Join us then to find out, and keep an eye on ESPNF1.com for all the latest reaction. Thanks for following.