Hello and welcome to ESPNF1's coverage of Free Practice 1 for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It's a busy weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit with GP2 practice having taken place this morning and a Young Driver Test to follow the race

After the hype surrounding India, it's been a more subdued build-up to track action in Abu Dhabi. That's not to say there hasn't been talking points though, with Nico Rosberg's future at Mercedes having been confirmed, and of course the usual interest in Lewis Hamilton's state of mind

There are a few driver changes today, and not the ones we have become accustomed to this season. Romain Grosjean will drive for Renault in place of Bruno Senna, Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso instead of Sebastien Buemi and Robert Wickens in at Virgin for Jerome d'Ambrosio

It's warm at the Yas Marina Circuit today, coming up to 1pm local time it's 27C air temperature and 43C track temperature. Those figures will drop once the sun sets later in the afternoon, making tyre temperatures difficult to control for teams on Sunday

It seems quite a contrast between India and Abu Dhabi, with parts of Buddh having been unfinished, whereas the Yas Marina Circuit is a shining example of modern Formula One facilities. A lot of the talk in the build-up to this race has been about the lack of overtaking seen last season, but with two DRS zones this weekend that should change

Fernando Alonso was just chatting with Fabio Cannavaro in the pit lane, with the Italian having played in a charity football game on Wednesday night. In the same game, Vitaly Petrov scored an own goal and the drivers lost 5-4. Probably better to stick to the driving...

And stick to it they will now, as the light goes green and Jaime Alguersuari heads out on track

Another new helmet for Vettel, having won in India and therefore retired that previous design

Sergio Perez continues for a second installation lap ... in fact he is really pushing on and looks like he is intent on setting a time

Perez pits, so doesn't set a time. We're only waiting to see Jenson Button come out on track

Kovalainen climbs out of his Lotus as the engine cover is taken off. Looks like a few gremlins down in the garage

As the track starts to quieten down again, if you'd like to get in touch with us here during the session you can do so in one of two ways. Either email us using the link above, or drop us a message via Twitter @ESPNF1_live

Another difference from the norm today is that Pirelli has supplied drivers with two sets of a new soft compound to test ahead of 2012, so we should see more running during this session

The Mercedes pair of Rosberg and Schumacher return to the pits after a spot of formation flying, and the track is empty again

Force India (ClubForce) on Twitter: "A normal start to FP1. Install laps complete and now both drivers have jumped out of their cars for a chat with their engineers."

The tyre compounds from Pirelli for this weekend are the medium (white) and soft (yellow)

With the midfield battle so tight at present, Force India is sticking with its line-up of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil for today's session, so no Nico Hulkenberg

Vergne is back out on track in the Toro Rosso. He pits at the end of the lap but he will want to get as much running as possible today as his only other appearance was in the wet of Korea

Grosjean on a flying lap on the medium tyre, with Alguersuari ahead of him on an out lap

And we have our first timed lap: a 1:50.375 from Grosjean

Akshay emails in to ask: "Could you describe this track & what is the ideal downforce level required?"

In all honest Akshay the track itself isn't so special; plenty of medium to low speed corners and long straights. That means it's generally a medium downforce circuit, with good top speed and traction important. It's likened to Singapore by the drivers, just a much smoother track surface

Paul emails in to say: "Mark Webber hasn't exactly had a bad year, he's been scoring points all the time except for Monza, but I expected at least 2 or 3 wins, which he should of done. Just hope he has a better year next year."

Grosjean has improved his best time to a 1:46.067, while Lewis Hamilton is on a lap now

And Hamilton immediately goes quicker with a 1:43.899. He's running the development soft tyre, which is somewhere between the current soft and supersoft

Ricciardo completes a lap on the medium tyre with a 1:53.095

Hamilton improves again to a 1:43.552

Barrichello has parked the Williams down at turn 13 after what appears to be a mechanical problem. He's wheeling the car back himself

A replay shows that the engine switched itself off at full throttle, with the warning message "Oil Pressure" on the steering wheel

The track is clear again, and Hamilton pits having improved to a 1:42.617. He changes his front wing and heads out again

Kovalainen goes third fastest with a 1:47.682

Travelle emails in to ask: "Given it's pretty unlikely that for next season Renault Lotus will have Robert K back with his still un-recovered injuries, and as the team obviously desperately needs someone with experience to assist in developing the car, and give the team valuable feedback only an experienced pilot can offer, which of the currently available drivers would you put in the frame as possible choices?"

Renault seems to be interested in gauging Romain Grosjean's progress at present, with Bruno Senna also firmly in the frame. The thing is the team wants to be able to run Kubica if he's fit to return so putting an experienced driver in for an undefined amount of time would be difficult

Kobayashi's car is in two parts in the Sauber garage, with the engine cover off and the whole rear of the car seperated from the front end. It's even facing the opposite direction, so a lot of work going on

Hamilton improves to a 1:41.846 while Maldonado has gone second on 1:44.623

Vettel, Webber, Alonso and Massa now on laps too

Vettel is on the medium compound and half a second down on Hamilton

Vettel improves to a 1:43.674 and second fastest, while Button heads out on the developmental tyre

Webber weaves behind Wickens who didn't appear to see him on the pit straight, and then passes in to turn one

Alonso on medium tyres, currently slowest of all of those who have set times, and he backs off on this lap

Sutil runs a touch wide exiting the final corner, and has to wait for the astroturf to end before rejoining the track. He got a bit close to the barrier that comes closer to the track there

Vettel improves once again, now just 0.855s slower than Hamilton. Alonso has gone third a further half a second back

More sparks from Massa's front wing, but this time because he bounced across a kerb at turn five

Button goes second on the soft developmental tyre, just 0.015s slower than his team-mate

Egon asks: "Why does the Red Bull have so much front end grip? Is it just a matter of aerodynamics or is there more that give it the grip it needs?"

It's not solely down to aerodynamics, but it is the main part reason, with more downforce meaning more grip. Speaking of the Red Bull, Mark Webber is running with aero paint on the diffuser

And Webber goes quickest on a 1:41.692, with Vettel now second on a 1:41.820

Button then beats the pair of them with a 1:40.955

The fastest FP1 time last year was a 1:42.760, but of course the extra soft tyres being run here will be quicker

Grosjean goes 13th with a 1:44.559 on the medium tyre, despite clipping a bollard in turn 11

Kobayashi still wandering around the Sauber garage waiting for his car to be pieced back together. Both he and Timo Glock are yet to go out again after installation laps

Rosberg goes fifth with a 1:42.130 on the soft development tyre

Williams says it is expecting to get Barrichello's car back in a few minutes and hopes to get him back out on track

Grosjean runs wide after locking up in to turn eight

Hamilton back on track on the soft tyre and he's gone third quickest

The soft tyre used in this session will always be the development compound, as drivers will not want to waste their usual soft tyres in FP1

Daniele emails in to ask: "I've just checked the 2 DRS zone that will be used on Sunday and personally I think that they are too shorts and this won't make a lot of overtaking … the same thing happened in India, do you agree?"

Daniele also says he's a Ferrari fan, so is obviously worried about a repeat of Alonso's troubles from last year! They are a touch shorter Daniele but that's because the straights are long and the DRS has the most impact at top speed. I think the first one is borderline; it could be long enough but if it isn't it will mean a driver is very close when they get to the second zone

Hamilton goes quickest on a 1:40.466

Luthando asks: "What is the main difference with the test compounds and the compounds to be raced on Sunday? I can see how Pirelli benefit from teams running the test compounds, but what benefit do the teams have in running the test tyres, they wont race the compound and if its significantly different to the soft that will be raced on Sunday does it compromise set up work, (I would assume that guys like Webber need as much time on the race tyre as possible instead of running the test compound instead)."

The development compound is softer than the soft tyre to be raced on Sunday, somewhere between the current soft and supersoft. Drivers would not normally run the soft tyre in this session anyway, so it actually helps them get closer to the setup they'll need on the soft tyre without wasting their usual allocation, and they can then refine that in FP2

Vettel now second quickest, 0.341s slower than Hamilton

Kobayashi and Glock finally out on track, both on the medium tyre. Barrichello won't get out again but will have a new engine for FP2

Massa spins in to turn one, skidding sideways but stopping just before the barrier. That will have ruined that set of soft tyres, and Rob Smedley's reaction (closing his eyes and a little shake of the head) tells you it was driver error

Terrordales asks on Twitter: "Why is Button doing so few laps compared to Hamilton?"

Hamilton has done 16 laps to Button's 9. Button was probably just waiting for the track to clean up a bit as he was much later out than Hamilton initially

Alonso on medium tyres replicates Massa's spin but this time in to turn five. The car seems to be caught on one of the 'sleeping policemen' on the inside of the corner, but he gets it in to reverse and continues

Another spin, this time Kovalainen in turn 18, right under the Yas Hotel

Button has improved to with 0.2s of Hamilton, while Webber and Vettel are now both out on the soft tyre

NickHeath on Twitter asks: "Do you see Schumacher continuing beyond 2012?? Thanks"

Yes Nick I could, as long as next year's car shows enough improvement to convince him that he could challenge for the title beyond that. If it still looks a few years away, then I don't think he will

Button goes quickest with a 1:40.263

Wickens currently slowest, 9 seconds off the pace. He's just 0.4s slower than Ricciardo though, and 1.3s slower than his team-mate Glock

Vergne running solidly in 13th with a 1:43.962, 1.2s slower than Alguersuari, while Grosjean is up in 8th on a 1:42.684; he's the busiest man having completed 22 laps

Webber improves but stays third, 0.262s slower than Button

Alonso runs wide out of turn 18 on the medium compound. He's really working hard in the car, sawing away at the steering wheel

Webber again improves, and again stays third. He's constantly setting fastest first sectors and is now just 0.149s slower than Button

Alonso keeps cutting the turn nine chicane, not even attempting to take the corner on two consecutive laps

Grosjean is on the soft tyre as he continues to notch up the laps

In fact, with 16 minutes to go Grosjean has the track to himself

Perez changes that, exiting the pit lane through the unique tunnel that passes beneath turn one and joining the track

Grosjean pits; 25 laps completed so far compared to his team-mate's 7

Soft tyre run for di Resta now, who has improved to 10th on his first flying lap having been down in 19th

Ricciardo goes half a second quicker than team-mate Liuzzi, with both HRTs comfortably quicker than the Virgins

Petrov goes 14th on the medium tyre; he's still only completed 10 laps

We rarely see any true pace from Ferrari in FP1 as it tests parts, but for comparison Massa is currently 1.3s off the pace and Alonso 2.1s

Maldonado rins wide at turn 8, and Perez catches a big slide in turn 17

McLaren 1st and 2nd at present, but Vettel now out on soft tyres again. He's a second down though

Button is out on the medium tyre so won't be improving on his time

Massa taking it easy now, as Ferrari (InsideFerrari) says on Twitter: "Felipe is still waiting for the end of the session to go out for the practice start. He is short of tyres as the first Medium set has been damaged by stones and the second, experimental Softs, has been damaged in the spin."

Sam Michael in the McLaren garage for the first time this weekend keeping a keen eye on proceedings, he's watching both Hamilton and Button run on the medium tyre now

Vergne has gone 9th, quicker than Grosjean and Alguersuari, while di Resta is now wighth but 2.2s off the pace

Alonso out on soft tyres and improves to fifth quickest on a 1:41.377

Everyone except Barrichello now on track; they will want to carry out practice starts at the end of the session

Looked like some debris on the track in the middle of the entrance to the pit lane, and replays show Petrov's Renault firing parts out of the left hand exhaust as he dived in to the pit lane. Petrov jumps out of the smoking car outside the Renault garage

Webber goes second with a quickest final sector, but he's 0.126 slower than Button

The chequered flag falls and Alonso improves with his final lap. Still fifth but 0.538s slower than Button

Glock spins at turn one right at the end of the session

Sutil improves to seventh place, a second off the pace. Rosberg in eight is a further 0.8s behind the Force India so a good lap

Instead of returning to the pits all of the drivers pull up on the grid to carry out practice starts

So it's a McLaren that tops the timesheets as Jenson Button heads Mark Webber by just 0.126s. Lewis Hamilton is third, just 0.016s further back, with Sebastian Vettel fourth on a 1:40.755. Then it's the two Ferraris, but a notable performance from Jean-Eric Vergne who's 11th and just 0.2s slower than team-mate Jaime Alguersuari, and Romain Grosjean in 12th quicker than Vitaly Petrov by over 0.4s

Thanks for all your emails and tweets during that session. Will McLaren still top the timesheets this evening when the sun sets and the lights come on? Join us again in two hours to find out