Qualifying

Just to recap the schedule for you: Q2 will start at 11am local time, run for 15 minutes and then there will be an eight minute gap until the start of Q3. Then, once the grid is decided the race will take place at its original scheduled time of 5pm

Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Q2 will get under way in less than 30 minutes and we'll finally get a grid for this afternoon's race

Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the first qualifying session of the 2013 season. All I need to tell you right now is: It's raining.

40 minutes until the start of Q1 and there's been some heavy downpours since the end of FP3 which ensures there is plenty of standing water on the track. Sebastian Vettel looked a heavy favourite for pole yesterday afternoon, but today's weather and a hydraulic failure this morning has changed all that

In fact, the rain has been so heavy that it has actually caused a major power cut in the television compound. But don't worry, we remain unaffected and will bring you all the action as it happens

If you want to get in touch with us during this qualifying session you can do so by emailing us your questions or comments using the link above. Or, if you'd prefer, you can tweet us @ESPNF1

Laurence is our man out in the paddock and he's filed this report about what he got up to between FP3 and now:

"Lunch at Ferrari, got wet, chatted to Sky Sports Mike, watched Ferraris, got wet"

Riveting stuff, I think you'll agree.

Rahul emails in to ask: "Can you please tell me what is the weather forecast for tomorrow? If it is sunny, do you think drivers will opt for wet setup for qualifying or will they go for dry setup?"

There is a risk of showers which is ever-changing, but it's not a certainty. Generally teams don't have a wet set-up these days, however, as the main change is ride height which automatically changes thanks to the tyre tread depth on wets and inters

Kartik asks: "Any News about what has actually caused Vettel to a halt??"

Yup, it was a sensor issue which made it appear that there was a hydraulic failure. Not a big problem it transpires, so he's good to go for qualifying

It appears Caterham is getting a bit too excited as an F18 keeps flying past to entertain the crowds...

Rod emails in from Canada: "Hi guys, I am a big Lewis Hamilton fan. What do think of his chances to win and can the Merc be that much improved vs last year?"

I genuinely think Lewis can qualify on the front two rows today and should be in the mix for pole position. Winning this race might not be beyond him either, but I definitely think later in the season we'll see him winning races. The championship could be a step too far this year though

Now, while we still want you to get in touch with us on emails, we've got a live chat set up for you to interact with us here at ESPN. Open a new tab and join the discussion with Martin here

15 minutes until the start of Q1 and the rain is still falling, although it is lighter than it was

One team this weather could help is McLaren, which is struggling with its new car. Martin Whitmarsh admits that the team "made some pretty fundamental errors setting the car up" yesterday but rain might level the playing field for it at present

Siddhesh emails in to ask: "Who looked strongest in the wet, going by what we saw in Winter Testing? I recall a few wet days in Barcelona."

I was impressed by both Alonso and Hulkenberg, but Hamilton has always been very quick in the wet and Button seems to come in to his own in these conditions too

Raining more heavily again now. It's definitely going to require full wet weather tyres

Monal emails in to ask: "What happens if the qualifying gets cancelled due to heavy rain? What will be the starting line up if it gets cancelled?"

We could see the session red flagged and delayed today, but if it gets cancelled then qualifying will take place tomorrow morning. I don't think the weather is likely to remain that bad, though

Robert asks: "If FIA decide to red flag this qualifying due to driveability in bad weather, how long can they red flag qualifying for?"

Off the top of my head I can't remember the regulation, but seeing as we're starting at 1700 local time it'll be until the light starts to fade. Reach 1900 and I think we'd be postponing the session

Following on from that Caterham tweet, the battle between Caterham and Marussia should be fascinating today. Marussia has been keen to point out it has had the upper hand in testing but Caterham believed it was running with more fuel. Bianchi has looked impressive in the Marussia so far though

Just five minutes to go, so get comfortable

The weather is terrible right now, in all honesty. I think we could see the session delayed...

Vergne is told that Toro Rosso expects the rain to continue as it is for five minutes. Wet and windy, it will all be about being on track at the right time

I was right. The start of Q1 has been delayed by ten minutes due to the rain

We've got people with brushes trying to sweep water off the pit lane exit and away from a number of other corners

Track drainage is a problem here because we're running round a temporary circuit

It might be frustrating while we wait for the conditions to improve enough for the session to start, but believe me it will be worth it. The drivers are really going to be tested out there today

The medical car is out doing a lap to analyse track conditions

The start of Q1 has been delayed by a further ten minutes

Alan van der Merwe brings the medical car back to the end of the pit lane as the track workers continue brushing away the water

Race Control: Start of qualifying now scheduled for 17:20

So we've got an official start time. The rain is still falling but more lightly than it was and the water continues to be swept away. It does look a bit brighter than a few minutes ago

We're seeing replays of brushes sweeping away water. Seriously.

Out goes the medical car again as we see images from the radar showing plenty of rain still around

Laurence says it gets too dark for meaningful F1 running at around 1930 local time, so realistically we can't wait to start the session any later than 1830 local. Still over an hour to play with then

Sorry folks, but we've got another ten minute delay. 1730 now the earliest possible start time

The most excitement of the last twenty minutes has been Martin catching sight of Jessica Michibata on TV

Robert emails in: "Too dark? Singapore night race ftw at this point!"

We're still trying to clear water and waiting for it to drain. It doesn't look like we're going to get a proper break in the rain any time soon

Out goes the medical car again, and there's still a lot of standing water in the middle sector

I wonder if Kimi's having an ice cream?

Looks like we could be go. Mercedes has been very clever here...

Both Mercedes are waiting at the end of the pit lane already. No further delays and Mercedes wants to be out on track first

There's a big queue with Hamilton at the head of it...

GO!

Hamilton leads the pack out, followed by Rosberg. Maldonado is told to just get a lap on the board and not put it in the wall

He might have a clear track ahead, but Hamilton is the guinea pig and will hit any rivers or standing water first

Needless to say, it's full wet tyres for everyone

Hamilton runs a bit wide in to turn three. DRS is disabled and every car is on track

So, in Q1 we will lose six drivers. My money is on us seeing one of them drop out via the wall, too...

What did I say?! Van der Garde has lost his front wing and it's tucked under his nose

Hamilton sets a 1:50.036 but Rosberg beats it easily with a 1:48.028

Hamilton's gone off! He's stuck on the grass with the wheels spinning...

Hamilton spun exiting turn one and hit the wall with his right rear. Fortunately he managed to get the car in reverse to move from where he was stuck and has got going again

Traffic is terrible right now, as is visibility

Rosberg still quickest and improving

Hamilton has damage on his rear wing. He's continuing but something is flapping around at the back of the car

Rosberg improves to a 1:46.539. Vergne is second on a 1:47.050

We've got a yellow and it's Massa who's lost his front wing now

Webber, Bianchi, Chilton and van der Garde yet to set times within 107%

It was a big one for Massa! He dropped it out of turn 12 and hit the tyres square with the nose. How he doesn't have more damage is beyond me

Hamilton stays out on track and goes third

Nine minutes to go and Webber goes sixth

Rosberg told not to push but to stay out in case conditions change

Vergne goes quickest! He's looking very good in these conditions

The current drop zone: Van der Garde, Maldonado, Pic, Bottas, Chilton and Bianchi

Vettel on a quick lap...

Vettel goes fastest with a 1:46.188

A brief yellow flag after Perez spins at turn 11. No damage though

It's close to the crossover point with intermediate tyres...

Di Resta and Button put on inters and head out. That could make everyone have to follow suit in these final six minutes

There is still some standing water that is catching drivers out though. This is fantastic. Maldonado drops it in to turn 11 but recovers the car and runs across the grass

Sutil and Massa on intermediates now too. Lots of cars head for the pits

I can't believe how lucky Massa is. He hit the wall at high speed but only the nose made contact and as a result his car is OK

Vettek improving. The Toro Rossos look very handy in these conditions in 2nd and 3rd

Inters are the required tyre right now as Button goes fastest by a second

Massa goes second - 0.2s off Button

Hamilton with the fastest first sector and Alonso the fastest middle one

All about being on track at the right time - the last man across the line should have the best conditions

Alonso goes fastest with Grosjean second and Hamilton only sixth

Bianchi and Chilton now outside 107%

Bottas goes 13th

Raikkonen on the bubble in 15th

Pic hits the wall, and Gutierrez has crashed too

Maldonado looks like dropping out

Gutierrez with an identical crash to Massa

That's it, and the bottom six are Maldonado, Guttierez, Bianchi, Chilton, van der Garde and Pic

Gutierrez crashed in the final sector, while Pic hit the wall on the run to turn 11. A late improvement put Chilton above van der Garde, with the Dutchman spinning at turn 11 too

Pic is outside 107% but only by 0.010s and in changeable conditions he should be allowed to race

It looked sunny in the final sector, but it's absolutely lashing it down again now!

Bottas the only rooke to make it through in to Q2, and ahead of his team-mate (though it must be said Maldonado may have been hampered by Gutierrez's crash)

Q2 has been delayed by a further ten minutes

Amak asks: "Is Gutierrez OK?"

Yes, he radioed in to say he was fine

As we await the start of Q2, a look at the times shows an impressive job from Bianchi who beat Chilton by 0.8s despite his lack of running in pre-season testing

Ian emails in: "Typical Melbourne weather ..... bring the race back to Adelaide :)"

Q2 scheduled to start at 18:10

Strong words from Maldonado: "It's like we're back to two years ago ... the car is undriveable at the moment and we need to work"

Geoffrey emails in: "I've got very wet at Albert Park too - but that was many years ago in a sailing dinghy!"

It's looking pretty dark out there right now. Some more standing water on the track following the recent downpour

Big delay: 20 minutes delay for Q2 and it is now scheduled to start at 18:30 local time

All we can do for now is focus

It appears the longer delay is because there's a heavy shower headed for the circuit and it would interrupt the session if it started

Massa is looking pretty animated in the Ferrari garage as he has a chat with Stefano Domenicali. He's lucky to be through

Roland emails in to ask: "How is the visibility for the drivers when they are on inters compared to full wet conditions. Is it still a lottery?"

Well the spray is less because there's less standing water, but it's still poor and very tricky

It's raining heavily again. We think that if we don't get going again today we'll use the Q1 results to form a grid

Just seen a shot of a Red Bull team member braving the conditions outside trying to work out which way the weather's coming from

Charlie Whiting says the delay is due to a lot of debris on the track too that needed clearing as well as the rain. He adds that he's "not that confident we'll start at half past but we'll do the best we can"

The support races have been cancelled for the rest of the day as it's now getting so late

Vance emails in to say: "did anyone notice that all the team mates are grouped together except sauber and williams. and if this is gonna be the grid for tomorrow. it would be interesting to see if anyone could stop vettel from getting away on the first lap or even the first corner"

Just to point out, the live standings reset for the start of Q2 so are now in car number order. The top ten at the end of Q1 was: Rosberg, Alonso, Grosjean, Perez, Webber, Massa, Vettel, Button, Vergne and Hamilton

We've got drivers getting back in to cars in preparation for the restart at 18:30

The medical car is back out to check the track again. If the qualifying session isn't completed today, we now think will be back tomorrow morning to complete it

Q2 is delayed by a further 20 minutes

Our next start time is 18:50 local time. Light is now becoming a very big issue as to weather we get to finish today

We do have a lot of time tomorrow to complete qualifying if needed as the race starts at 1700 local time

James asks what time qualifying would start tomorrow. We really have no idea yet, it's all speculation IF we can't complete it today

James also says: "How smart is Lewis Hamilton! Amazing, he left a team that is now way down the order, with a quasi rookie driver, who is was one of the worst crashers and smashers last yr. Now he is lined up with someone who he is close to and who is an outstanding driver, in a team with virtually unlimited resources -think engineering, think focus, think technical expertise, think money. Mercedes does not have Newey, the guy who with Renault makes the R. Bull charge, but it has everything else."

It's still raining out there, and doesn't look like it will relent for a while

Hamilton is chatting to Mercedes team members in the garage and after his rear wing damage he's reminiscing about the time his rear wing was repaired on the grid under a red flag at Monaco when he was driving for McLaren

Uh oh ... there's water running off part of the park, through holes in the barrier and towards the track rather than away from it. That's the problem with temporary circuits

Apparently Kovalainen would want to go out in these conditions...

Oooh, we've got engines firing up....

Perez is back in his car and being strapped in. It doesn't look good outside but we've yet to have an update from race control

We're theoretically six minutes away from a re-start

Tyres on the four corners of the cars, we could have someone headed to the end of the pit lane soon...

QUALIFYING HAS BEEN POSTPONED

Stewards decision - Q2 and Q3 will take place at 11:00 Sunday Morning

So, tomorrow's going to be a busy day, isn't it?

James emails in to say: "Why do they start the Melbourne race so late every year? It often finishes in the dark, and any meteorologist will tell you that period in mid- March, when the southern hemisphere is moving from autumn to winter, is one when frequent rain. By the way in Melbourne, everyone would like to see the race start at 1400 or 1500, which just means the fans in Europe will have to be a little less lazy and get up earlier, like people in Asia have to adjust everything so they can watch races in Europe and the Americas. For what is usually the best race of the year, in Montreal, Canada, in Asia people are up at 2,3,430 am! Europe is no longer the center of the world, so it is about time they started to adjust to that reality."

Right then, after all that it's time for us to say goodbye. All we've learnt today is that Maldonado, Gutierrez, Bianchi, Chilton, van der Garde and Pic will make up the back three rows. The rest we shall find out tomorrow! We'll be back at 10:30am local time (11:30pm GMT) to bring you live coverage of the rest of qualifying before the race itself. Thanks for following, get some rest in and we will see you then!


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