Sunshine at Istanbul Park © Sutton

06:45 Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for seventh round of the 2010 FIA Formula 1 world championship.

The truckies have completed the longest road trip of the year, right across Europe to the meeting point with Asia and the Istanbul Park circuit for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Red Bull Racing is without doubt the team to catch; six poles out of six, three race victories from the last four events and a superb back-to-back double for Mark Webber has left the rest of the field with a lot of work to do.

The legendary Turn 8 awaits the drivers this weekend with its increasing speed through four apexes and variable camber angles. Cars with efficient aero packages and strong engines will do very well here this weekend.

All will hope to challenge the outstanding RB6, but time will tell if the Red Bull dominance is set to continue.

06:46 Today, we will guide you through the opening practice sessions with minute-by-minute commentary as the teams and drivers re-acquaint themselves with the challenge of testing the two tyre compounds available this weekend whilst working with varying levels of fuel and finding a good balance.

First practice will begin shortly, with commentary ending 15 minutes after the session has concluded.

Later, at 10:45 GMT, we will return for live coverage of the second practice session.

AUTOSPORT Live will wrap up for the day with a detailed look at the weather forecast for the rest of the event.

Webber is now the man to beat © Sutton

06:47 The championship tables make grim reading for the opposition as we enter the seventh round of the campaign.

Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are tied at the top of the standings, with Fernando Alonso just three points adrift. Jenson Button is fourth and he heads a strong chasing contingent - all of whom ideally need to score a podium finish this weekend to stay in the hunt.

In the constructors' table, Red Bull is beginning to pull out a lead over Ferrari and McLaren. Mercedes and Renault are involved in a healthy fight for fourth, but the German marque would rather be up with the top three teams and Renault may struggle to repeat its Monaco pace this weekend.

Force India is best of the rest with 30 points in sixth place, and at the back the three new teams that entered the sport this year are yet to score. Lotus has been the best of the incoming outfits so far and could be knocking on the door of a points finish fairly soon.

World Championship standings, round 6:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             

 1.  Webber        78        1.  Red Bull-Renault          156
 2.  Vettel        78        2.  Ferrari                   136
 3.  Alonso        75        3.  McLaren-Mercedes          129
 4.  Button        70        4.  Mercedes                   78
 5.  Massa         61        5.  Renault                    65
 6.  Hamilton      59        6.  Force India-Mercedes       30
 7.  Kubica        59        7.  Williams-Cosworth           8
 8.  Rosberg       56        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          4
 9.  Schumacher    22       
10.  Sutil         20       

06:49 It's a beautiful morning at Istanbul Park and the sun has been shining brightly since dawn.

Conditions will remain like this for the duration of the two practice sessions on the menu today, with a maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius.

Track temperature is likely to edge up towards the 50 degree mark with prolonged sunshine beating down on the asphalt all day.

A special weekend for Ferrari © Sutton

06:51 AUTOSPORT forum members are invited to join the fun throughout the weekend, offering thoughts and opinions as the event unfolds.

Our questions to you for today are:

• Can any of the front-running teams stop Red Bull's mid-season charge in your opinion?

• Who will get to grips with the circuit quickest today in the practice sessions?

• How will the new drivers fare with the fabled Turn 8 and how many will take a trip wide on the expansive run-off?

Tell everyone what you think.

Click the SHOW LIVE FORUM link in the red bar at the bottom of your browser window if you would like to join the debate.

Tyres will be punshied in Turkey © Sutton

06:53 While Formula 1 awaits an announcement on the source of rubber for 2011, the challenging nature of Istanbul Park means tyres will also be high on the agenda of race engineers up and down the pitlane.

Bridgestone's soft and hard compounds are on offer here - the hardest possible selection while maintaining a two-step gap between the options.

"Istanbul Park has caused us problems in the past so it is a circuit where we pay particular attention to every aspect of our preparation," said Hirohide Hamashima.

"Turn 8 is the hardest corner we face during the course of the season, however this is not the only part of the track which is a challenge. The left-right-left of turns 12-14 are the lowest speed areas of the track and come straight after the highest-speed straight. This combination is a breeding ground for tyre graining, so competitors will have to pay particular attention here to minimise this, especially early in the race weekend when the circuit is dirtier and has less rubber on it."

06:55 First practice for the Turkish Grand Prix gets underway in five minutes.

06:56 The track temperature is 28 Celsius on a warm day at the Istanbul Park circuit.

06:58 Sakon Yamamoto returns to Formula 1 driving duty today. The Japanese ex-Super Aguri pilot is ready to go in the Hispania Racing entry today.

06:59 Yamamoto will replace Bruno Senna for this session, while Karun Chandhok will do the bulk of HRT's data gathering work this morning.

0 min: The practice session is underway.

0 min: Jarno Trulli leads the cars out of the pitlane in his Lotus.

1 min: Tonio Liuzzi joins Trulli on the circuit in an updated Force India. The team is running an F-duct for the first time this weekend.

1 min: Yamamoto, Sutil, Buemi and Alguersuari are also out on the circuit.

2 min: The Lotus pair return to the pits as installation laps continue.

2 min: Karun Chandhok joins Hispania team-mate Yamamoto on track for the standard installation lap.

2 min: Robert Kubica is out for a tour in his Renault.

3 min: Jaime Alguersuari crosses the line as Toro Rosso goes for a double-installation run this morning.

4 min: Felipe Massa is among the latest group of drivers out for a first lap of the day.

4 min: Williams drivers Barrichello and Hulkenberg are out on the circuit for a run.

5 min: Massa also continues over the line to commence a second lap, while team-mate Alonso is on track as well.

5 min: Jaime Alguersuari pitted at the end of his first lap, ran through the pitlane to complete a timing test of the lane and then rejoined the circuit.

6 min: Alguersuari then completed a second lap out of the pits, crossed the line and is on a third tour.

6 min: Lewis Hamilton heads out for the first time this weekend, testing a revised front wing on the McLaren.

6 min: Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher are the only two drivers yet to come out onto the circuit so far today.

7 min: Alguersuari completed three laps and came back into the pits. One lap followed by a pitlane test, then a two-lap installation run.

7 min: Fernando Alonso presses on through his second lap before heading in to the pits.

8 min: Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg are two other drivers to complete a double installation run this morning.

9 min: Michael Schumacher is on track. The German is coming towards the end of a two-lap installation.

10 min: With little running at this circuit during the year, the track will be particularly dirty and lacking in racing rubber on the surface.

10 min: Schumacher pits the Mercedes, leaving the circuit empty for the moment. Webber is the only driver yet to run.

11 min: The teams will be keen to wait for others to increase the grip levels, helping preserve the single set of harder tyres they will use.

11 min: Along the pitlane, the telemetry data engineers are now looking at the figures and screens to ensure that all functions of the cars are working properly.

12 min: Michael Schumacher rejoins the track following a short pause in the pitlane.

12 min: Mark Webber joins Schumacher on the circuit for his installation run in the championship leading Red Bull RB6.

13 min: Schumacher crosses start-finish and he begins what could be the first timed lap of the weekend.

15 min: Schumacher's pace suggests that Mercedes is beginning the day with a lengthy installation process. Schumacher pits.

15 min: Kamui Kobayashi heads out to begin some laps in his Sauber.

16 min: Webber comes back into the pits at the end of a two-lap installation run. Adrian Sutil has also been out but pitted after a single lap.

16 min: Schumacher leaves the Mercedes garage for the third time this morning. Could this be his first run or another test for the engineers?

16 min: Kobayashi is over the line and may be the first man to clock a time this morning.

17 min: Nico Rosberg joins his team-mate on the circuit as Mercedes looks to be preparing extremely carefully this weekend.

18 min: Kobayashi heads to the pits at the end of his second lap, leaving us still without a benchmark time.

18 min: Schumacher pits again and has completed five laps so far without setting a time. Indeed, no-one has posted a time yet.

20 min: Tonio Liuzzi comes out for a second single lap and pits the Force India. These lengthy tests for Force India and Mercedes are likely to be F-duct related.

20 min: Lucas di Grassi heads into a lap but is not up to full speed in the Virgin.

21 min: This is di Grassi's first outing in the modified Virgin car with enough fuel capacity to complete the race.

21 min: Rosberg pits and the mechanics briefly work on his car and make small adjustments. He rejoins for another tour and then brings the Mercedes back in.

22 min: So far, the 24 drivers taking part in practice have completed 48 laps of Istanbul Park between them with no time yet on the board.

23 min: There is little hurry in the McLaren garage as Jenson Button chats with his engineers. The team often wait a long time for grip to improve.

24 min: This is the most extensive installation process we have seen carried out by the teams during a grand prix weekend. Vettel is on track, working through a constant speed aero test.

25 min: Finally we have a time on the board, set by Sakon Yamamoto. He gets the ball rolling with 1m38.785s.

26 min: Yamamoto has the circuit to himself as he gets the Formula 1 feeling back. His second timed effort is 1m37.620s.

27 min: Teams are slow to head out as the tyres are particularly prone to graining here, with the tight final complex hurting the rubber after it is pushed through the high speed portion of the lap.

28 min: Replays show Yamamoto's HRT bouncing wildly under braking for the downhill Turn 12. An aerodynamic piece comes off the car under the extreme load as it vibrates.

29 min: Lucas di Grassi is back out to start a timed lap in his Virgin machine as he again tests his modified chassis.

29 min: Yamamoto improves again to 1m37.082s as we see what looks like part of a gurney flap is flapping around at the top of the rear wing.

30 min: Yamamoto pits the HRT, bringing his first serious run of the session to an end.

31 min: Di Grassi again heads to the pits without clocking a time.

32 min: Jarno Trulli is on to a timed lap in his Lotus.

32 min: Jaime Alguersuari is on the circuit for his first run. He is about to post a time in the Toro Rosso.

33 min: Trulli has a major moment in Turn 8 as he pushes the T127 through the challenging corner for the first time.

33 min: Trulli completes the tour in 1m34.793s to top the early order.

34 min: Alguersuari quickly puts himself ahead of the Lotus drivers with 1m33.402s.

34 min: Kovalainen slots in second quickest in 1m33.966s.

35 min: Nico Rosberg leaves the Mercedes garage to begin his first run - possibly - of the day. It remains to be seen if this run is a further test of the F-duct.

35 min: The Lotus pair improve on their second laps but remain behind pacesetter Alguersuari.

36 min: Alguersuari lowers the benchmark with 1m32.670s as we see replays of his Toro Rosso scraping the asphalt through the final exit of Turn 8.

37 min: Rosberg was continuing the testing and research phase of Mercedes' morning programme. He returns to the pits after a single lap.

37 min: Alguersuari finds another tenth of a second as he continues at the top of the order after 37 minutes.

37 min: Trulli is the first man to test the Turn 1 run-off area having apparently distracted himself removing a visor tear-off.

38 min: Chandhok comes out in the HRT, as Alguersuari completes his next lap in 1m32.409s, knocking another tenth off the target time so far.

38 min: Meanwhile, Kovalainen tops the order with a 1m32.357s in his Lotus.

39 min: Chandhok is immediately in trouble. He is coasting round the circuit very slowly. This is on his lap out of the pits.

39 min: He reports on the team radio that the car is coasting at 33 kilometres per hour.

40 min: Chandhok is clearly able to keep going in some form of 'idle' and looks like he is trying to make it back to the pits.

41 min: The Indian is almost back to base as he is told over the radio that the team is monitoring temperatures of the components.

41 min: Chandhok makes it back to the pits at the end of one of the slowest laps in history.

43 min: Meantime, at the front Alguersuari has lowered the quickest time down to 1m32.071s. Kovalainen is now second, but less than one tenth behind the Spaniard.

43 min: Webber, Schumacher, Vettel, Barrichello and Sutil are all out on the circuit now for their first run of the day.

43 min: Mike Gascoyne reports a close moment for his driver with Chandhok's touring HRT: "Both cars out for first runs. Chandhok very slow on the track and dangerous moment for Heikki in turn 11."

44 min: Although Schumacher does not set a time. He pits yet again at the end of his seventh lap with no time set.

45 min: Vettel moves to the top with a lap of 1m31.718s in the Red Bull.

45 min: Many of the leading runners are now out to begin laps with under half of the session remaining.

45 min: Vettel is about to set a much faster time on his second timed lap. Yes, he posts 1m30.840s as the 90-second barrier looms.

46 min: Schumacher is back out again to begin his eighth lap of the track. We will keep watch on his progress to see if he posts a time.

46 min: Times are still well off the low 1m27s set in qualifying last year, with the track only slowly building grip at this stage.

47 min: Jaime Alguersuari reports that the track was extremely dirty on his run, but that the traction and feel of the car and tyres was becoming much better as he completed more laps.

47 min: Kubica immediately jumps to the top of the order with a 1m30.471s effort in his Renault.

48 min: Button is now third quickest, with Hamilton fourth as those recently joining the circuit enjoy the benefits of fresh rubber.

48 min: Schumacher crossed the line to begin and lap and immediately set the fastest first sector time. However, towards the end of the lap he backed off to give himself some clear space. He is now on another lap and this looks like a more serious effort.

48 min: Felipe Massa slots in sixth, which is soon demoted to seventh by Kobayashi as times continue to tumble.

49 min: Webber is up into fourth place in the early going as Schumacher crosses the line in third place with 1m30.356s at the end of his 11th lap of the morning.

49 min: Lewis Hamilton tops the order with a 1m29.672s in his McLaren before team-mate Button comes around to make the benchmark a 1m29.623s.

50 min: Petrov is now third quickest on a rapidly-changing timesheet.

50 min: Behind Petrov comes Schumacher in fourth, Rosberg fifth and Robert Kubica in sixth spot.

52 min: Hamilton improves his time to a 1m29.672s but is still fractions off team-mate Button.

52 min: Rosberg pits at the end of his first serious run and briefly tested a launch at the beginning of the pitlane - not the normal place. Usually the drivers would test a start or launch at the end of the lane.

53 min: Sebastian Vettel is fourth so far after the first runs. He is testing with the F-duct this morning while team-mate Webber is running without it, as Red Bull looks to compare both configurations.

53 min: Hamilton is on a significantly improved lap this time as he finds more grip. It's a 1m28.653s to put him almost a second clear at the top.

54 min: Michael Schumacher has improved to third spot behind the McLaren drivers with a lap of 1m29.897s. He pits at the end of the following lap.

55 min: Sebastien Buemi posts his quickest lap of the day so far with 1m31.407s. He is 13th currently.

56 min: The Renault drivers are fifth for Petrov and sixth for Kubica after the first serious runs of the day.

57 min: Adrian Sutil suffers a wild moment at Turn 3 as the rear of his Force India lets go very quickly, prompting the German into sharp reactions to control the car. He does so and recovers well.

57 min: Petrov survives a major moment of oversteer at the Turn9/10 chicane on his latest effort.

57 min: Sutil is down in 20th place currently but has stayed out on track to continue this run of laps.

58 min: Alonso is 10th in his Ferrari with team-mate Massa 11th.

58 min: Sutil moves up from 20th to 17th position with a time of 1m31.722s.

59 min: Tonio Liuzzi improves in the other Force India to 12th place with a lap of 1m30.909s.

60 min: Sutil now moves ahead of his team-mate and into ninth spot with 1m30.609s as this run continues.

60 min: Alguersuari posts his quickest lap of the morning but 1m31.735s places him only 19th at the moment.

61 min: Lucas di Grassi sets his best time of the session but remains over nine seconds off the pace.

62 min: Karun Chandhok is the only driver yet to set a time in this session, as the HRT mechanics look to fix the electronics problem that slowed him to crawling speed earlier on.

62 min: Alonso clocks an improved time to move up to eighth quickest.

63 min: Kubica is the next man to explore the run-off at Turn 1 but continues in his Renault.

63 min: Sebastian Vettel rejoins the fray in the Red Bull. He is currently fourth and looking to improve on his best so far of 1m29.943s.

66 min: Renault has made a strong start to the day: "Vitaly reports some understeer in the slower parts of the track. He's happy overall saying 'the car is stable'".

67 min: Nico Hulkenberg is 16th and on track at the moment. With a clear track he is several seconds slower than his quickest time so far.

68 min: Nico Rosberg improves from ninth to third with a lap of 1m29.855s in the Mercedes. Hamilton continues to lead Button with 21 minutes to go.

70 min: Adrian Sutil reports on the team radio that he experienced no grip at all on his first run of laps.

71 min: Virgin report improving track conditions: "Track now looking a lot better - earlier Timo was reporting it's dirtier than other years."

71 min: Sebastian Vettel runs wide at Turn 1 in the Red Bull but continues without any apparent damage. He has slipped to fifth in the standings.

72 min: Nico Rosberg came into the pits after that improving lap to third place, but is back out after a change of front wing.

72 min: Jenson Button is back out for another outing in his McLaren.

73 min: Down at HRT, Colin Kolles is monitoring the progress of the competition closely as both his cars remain in the pits.

75 min: Yamamoto comes out for another run in the HRT, and now team-mate Chandhok joins him following those electronic problems.

75 min: Timo Glock is back out in his Virgin after a lengthy spell in the pits. He remains over seven seconds off the early pace.

76 min: Chandhok is the only driver yet to set a time in this morning's session.

77 min: Chandhok is up to regular speed and the problem looks to be fixed. He is now on his first timed lap.

78 min: There is little in the way of improvement on these latest outings as the best is already used from the single set of hard compound tyres allocated to each driver for this session.

79 min: Chandhok posts his first effort and the time is 1m36.025s. Amusingly, that lap is immediately quicker than team-mate Yamamoto who has completed 17 laps.

80 min: Michael Schumacher improves with 1m29.750s to take third spot away from his team-mate Nico Rosberg.

81 min: Chandhok improves to a 1m35.130s and moves up to 21st position. He is now 1.3s ahead of Yamamoto.

82 min: The Indian is the only improving driver on track currently as he finds more time with 1m34.876s as his first run continues. He remains 21st.

83 min: Yamamoto improves on his best time with 1m36.137s but that is still well over seven seconds off the pace.

83 min: The McLaren pair continue to circulate on used rubber but well off the session-topping pace set when the tyres were fresh.

84 min: Replays of Chandhok show his rear tyres locking heavily under braking for Turn 12. He takes to the asphalt run-off but continues.

85 min: Buemi is the next man to explore the grip level of the run-off, as he runs wide at Turn 1. He loses five seconds in that but continues.

85 min: Mike Gascyone has a plan for the rest of the morning: "Both cars out for last runs, running to the flag and then practice starts on the grid. Not possible to do starts at the pit exit here."

86 min: Up front, Hamilton leads the pack with 1m28.653 ahead of Button, Schumacher, Rosberg and Vettel with just under four minutes remaining.

86 min: Di Grassi finally elevates himself off the bottom of the timesheet, also beating team-mate Glock to go 22nd.

87 min: Adrian Sutil has crashed his Force India.

88 min: He was clearly on a quick lap at top-ten pace, setting 33.9s in the first sector, but he has caused considerable damage to the Force India at Turn 8.

89 min: Sutil has climbed out of the car and looks to be fine, but the front end of the car has plenty of damage.

90 min: The flag is out to end first practice in Turkey.

08:30 The yellow flags remained displayed at Turn 8 where Sutil's car was located. He travelled a long way across the run-off area before making contact with the tyre barrier.

08:31 All cars are on track at the close of the session and are now heading to the grid for practice starts.

08:32 Lewis Hamilton expressed surprise on the team radio that the session wasn't stopped. In his view it was a big accident.

08:33 Hamilton ends the first practice session at Istanbul on top, with a time of 1m28.653s with his McLaren team-mate Button second quickest.

08:34 Michael Schumacher was third ahead of Mercedes team-mate Rosberg. Vettel was fifth for Red Bull.

08:34 Robert Kubica finished the session in sixth, with team-mate Petrov seventh, Webber eighth, Alonso ninth and Sutil rounding out the top ten.

08:35 Mike Gascoyne is surprised by how the harder tyre performed: "More degradation on the prime tyre than we expected in this session"

08:35 Jenson Button is the last man in the pits to wrap up first practice at Istanbul Park.

08:37 Here's our round-up of the first session:

Hamilton tops first Turkey practice

08:39 The first practice session provided us with little in the way of clues as to how the rest of the weekend will pan out.

McLaren and Mercedes lead the way so far, but the Red Bull drivers are well placed, with Kubica once again mixing it with the top three teams.

Extensive early-session testing of F-ducts and straight line aero meant a slow start to the day, but drama at the end as Sutil puts the Force India into the wall heavily at Turn 8, giving the Force India mechanics plenty to do during the break.

Will the order at the front remain the same this afternoon? Join us at 10:45 GMT as the story of the Turkish Grand Prix continues.