Ahead of today's all important qualifying session, the air temperature is 24 degrees C, while the track temperature is 34 degrees. It remains bright, sunny and hot with strong winds continuing to blast various parts of the track.

The Red Bull drivers have been quickest in each of the practice sessions, however, an electrical problem for Webber yesterday afternoon and a loose nose for Vettel this morning signals that the Austrian outfit has still not nailed its reliability problem.

As for the championship leaders, McLaren, well to put it simply they are struggling. Having encountered problems with its upgrade package yesterday the team has reverted to its original package today, thereby meaning that the Woking outfit was starting from scratch. It's still early days but those hoping for a home win for Button or Hamilton are likely to be disappointed.

Ferrari upped its pace this morning while both the Renault drivers looked good. However, despite being well placed this morning, not too much should be read into the performances of the Mercedes duo, the Brackley outfit clearly struggling both on-track and back at the factory.

While most of the drivers are quite positive about the revisions to the Silverstone circuit, a number have expressed their doubts.

Over night the kerb at Turn 3 was removed as a precaution against a car going wide, or being forced very wide around turn 2; while the verge behind the apex kerb of turn 5 has been laid with asphalt in order to help prevent dirt and dust getting onto the track in case a driver clips the kerb.

And then there are the bumps. Throughout the weekend drivers have been running wide after losing it on the numerous bumps - particularly in the new complex - with Hamilton suffering in particular and some even citing a bump as the cause of Vettel's loose nose this morning.

This morning the Top 14 were covered by less than a second and this afternoon's pole time could well be in the low 1:29s, around 148 mph.

Other than those teams already mentioned, Sauber and Williams are both looking good on a track that has witnessed some magical moments in the history of the English team. Force India will continue to do battle with Toro Rosso while Lotus remains the best of the newbies.

In an innovative move, Virgin boss Richard Branson has hired out his old school at Stowe and is running it as a base not only for his team but also for fans. Indeed, Pitpass last week gave away two tickets in a competition. Sadly, however, it is unlikely that either Branson or his team will have much to cheer about this weekend as the Manor outfit continues to find its feet.

Just ten minutes before the session gets underway, Martin Whitmarsh admits that his team is on the "back foot" this present, not what his drivers or his team's millions of fans will want to hear.

The lights go green and Q1 is underway, however, it is over a minute before a car (Glock) heads down the pitlane. Over a minute later, Trulli, Kovalainen and di Grassi join him.

As Buemi heads down Hangar Straight he is warned about the high winds.

Glock posts the first time of the afternoon, the Virgin driver crossing the line at 1:39.951. We expect the pole time to be at least 10s quicker. Five minutes into the session all but Vettel and Sutil are on track.