04:25 Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 17 in this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the Indian Grand Prix from the Buddh International Circuit.

Just four rounds remain in what is another close and exciting campaign, with world champion Sebastian Vettel leading Ferrari's Fernando Alonso by a mere six points.

Anticipation for this final stretch of races is at fever pitch, so without further ado let's get into the weekend. Practice one begins shortly, and as always, the teams will complete an installation run, before working through some straight-line aero testing. Once the teams are happy with this, they will begin to move onto more meaningful baseline set-up work.

One important housekeeping note to point out this morning: Sergio Perez is suffering from a cold, with Sauber deciding to rest him for first practice. As expected, reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez will deputise.

04:26 Here's how the standings look with four races remaining:

World Championship standings, round 16:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       215        1.  Red Bull-Renault          367
 2.  Alonso       209        2.  Ferrari                   290
 3.  Raikkonen    167        3.  McLaren-Mercedes          284
 4.  Hamilton     153        4.  Lotus-Renault             255
 5.  Webber       152        5.  Mercedes                  136
 6.  Button       131        6.  Sauber-Ferrari            116
 7.  Rosberg       93        7.  Force India-Mercedes       89
 8.  Grosjean      88        8.  Williams-Renault           58

04:27 Conditions are dry, sunny and very warm as we get going for another weekend of racing, although there is a fair amount of haze around.

Air temperature is expected to reach 31 degrees this afternoon, while track surface temperature may just nudge over the 40-degree mark during the second session.

04:27 Giedo van der Garde returns to a Friday testing role for Caterham, with Heikki Kovalainen again watching from the sidelines.

04:28 Pirelli's soft and hard compound tyres are available to the teams for the second event at the Buddh International Circuit.

"This year we know a little more about the track so we’ve made a less conservative choice," said motorsport boss Paul Hembery. "With the hard and the soft tyres striking exactly the right balance between performance and durability.

"The circuit layout is one of the toughest that our tyres will face throughout the second half of the season and it’s also the last time that we will see the hard and soft combination this year, which was previously used in Barcelona, Britain and Japan – which gives you some idea about the demands of this circuit."

04:29 Gutierrez is getting comfortable in Perez's Sauber ahead of the younger Mexican's first appearance in a timed session.

04:29 Valtteri Bottas is again in the hotseat for Williams, replacing Bruno Senna for this morning's session.

0 min: The practice session is underway.

0 min: Vergne and Ricciardo are straight out onto the circuit for Toro Rosso.

1 min: Gutierrez heads out to make his Sauber debut with an installation lap.

2 min: Bottas and Maldonado take to the track for Williams for an installation lap.

2 min: Glock and Pic are on track to put an initial lap on the pair of Marussias.

2 min: Ricciardo is back into the pits after a single tour, while team-mate Vergne continues round for a second lap.

3 min: Hamilton heads out for his first lap of the weekend in his McLaren. Button is also about to set off in the other car.

4 min: Hulkenberg, Rosberg, de la Rosa, Webber and Schumacher are all on track to check the condition of their cars.

5 min: Raikkonen is touring slowly in his Lotus as he crosses the line to complete further aerodynamic testing.

5 min: Vergne pitted after his second tour - the only driver to complete two laps on his installation run so far.

6 min: Vettel and Karthikeyan test out the conditions, as they run through a checking lap.

6 min: Di Resta is one of the last to head out onto the circuit this morning.

7 min: Perez, who has been suffering from a heavy cold, watches on from the back of the Sauber garage as Gutierrez steps out of the car for now.

7 min: Massa is one of the last to set off for an installation effort.

8 min: Rosberg is back out to begin a second short run. This will typically concentrate on constant speed aero tests.

8 min: Flow-vis in full force at Ferrari, with Massa checking the airflow over the bargeboards on his car.

9 min: Rosberg pits to end that short outing. Meanwhile, Vettel and Schumacher are out there again.

10 min: Di Resta reports that there is 'not much grip at all' on the team radio, following his installation run.

11 min: Vettel and Schumacher are back in, leaving the circuit empty of cars for now.

13 min: Vergne and Webber have rejoined the track, to continue testing functions on the car.

14 min: Several teams will want to leave it late this morning, given the dusty track conditions at the moment.

15 min: Webber pitted, while Vergne continued into a second lap - but he is not expected to be out there for long.

16 min: Indeed, Vergne guides his Toro Rosso back into the pitlane for further checks, while everyone else waits for better track conditions.

18 min: De la Rosa has spent some time chatting in the HRT garage with his engineer. He has since wandered over to take a sip from his drink.

19 min: Little sign of hurry in the garages, with most drivers out of their cars.

21 min: But it does give FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer the opportunity to walk the pitlane and take a quick look at all the cars, as they sit in the respective garages.

23 min: Vettel has taken up the customary tool-chest sitting position, as he chats intently with Dr. Helmut Marko.

24 min: At Force India, di Resta is watching over the progress of his mechanics, as they make changes to his car, while Hulkenberg is in conversation with his engineer.

25 min: Circuit officials have been trying to clean the track over the last few days, but the atmosphere is very dusty so grip is still limited.

25 min: Gutierrez breaks the silence and heads out for his next run in the Sauber.

25 min: Jean-Eric Vergne is looking hot and bothered already - he's only completed four laps of the circuit. You've got many more to do yet...

26 min: "Learn all gears," the inexperienced Mexican is told, though that is for the benefit of the car rather than the driver.

28 min: At Williams, Valtteri Bottas has put his crash helmet back on and has climbed into the car.

28 min: Gutierrez continues on to his first lap against the clock on an F1 weekend.

29 min: It's a 1m46.071s initial effort for Gutierrez, though that is some way off the expected pace.

29 min: Hamilton is now on circuit for an early run in his McLaren.

30 min: Maldonado is on track for Williams, with team-mate Bottas expected to join him soon.

31 min: Gutierrez improves to a 1m40.846s as Hamilton heads around to complete his first flyer.

32 min: It's a 1m37.354s lap for Hamilton as he completes an exploratory first full lap.

33 min: Maldonado moves to the front of the early order as the track slowly begins to clean up, with 1m34.740s.

33 min: Button completes his first effort in 1m33.342s to comfortably top the early times.

34 min: Maldonado improves on that with a lap of 1m32.381s, to retake the leading spot.

35 min: Hamilton improves to 1m32.832s, slightly slower than Maldonado.

35 min: Bottas is now on his first timed lap and Karthikeyan has just joined the circuit.

35 min: Button meanwhile takes the benchmark in 1m32.349s.

36 min: Bottas moves into fifth place with a lap of 1m35.691s in the Williams.

36 min: Hamilton is next to top the times with a new best of 1m31.141s.

38 min: Bottas improves on his second timed lap with 1m33.553s. He is now fourth, behind the McLaren pair and his team-mate.

38 min: Button further improves the time to beat - now a 1m29.684s as grip rapidly improves.

39 min: Karthikeyan makes a new entry at eight in the charts, with a lap of 1m37.697s.

39 min: Although the Indian is quickly displaced to ninth by Hulkenberg, who comes through in 1m35.847s at the end of his first timed lap.

40 min: P2 for Grosjean as he clocks a 1m31.376s in the Lotus.

41 min: Hulkenberg improves with his second timed lap but he remains eighth, with 1m33.218s.

41 min: Raikkonen is also working on his first run and is now seventh fastest.

42 min: Bottas has continued to improve with 1m31.875s, which takes him briefly to third spot.

42 min: Rosberg is the new man near the front, as he goes second with a time of 1m30.918s.

43 min: Hulkenberg goes on for a third effort and moves up to fourth in the classification, with 1m31.394s.

44 min: Ricciardo completes a slow building lap - his first foray onto the timesheet - with 1m34.860s. He is 15th.

44 min: Alonso finally gets going in his Ferrari, setting off for a first run with only half of the session remaining.

45 min: Di Resta moves up the list to fifth in the Force India with 1m31.559s. He is just one-tenth shy of his team-mate.

45 min: Rosberg looks set to improves as he completes another lap. He crosses the line and remains second with 1m30.398s.

46 min: Massa, who struggled with suspension failures after clattering the kerbs here last year, moves up to second fastest.

47 min: We reach the halfway stage of the session with Button up front (1m29.684s), with Massa now second, Rosberg third and Hulkenberg fourth.

48 min: Schumacher completed a handful of timed laps and he lies fifth, ahead of di Resta sixth, Ricciardo up to seventh and Grosjean in eighth.

48 min: Karthikeyan improves with a time of 1m32.854s and moves up the list to 14th place.

49 min: Alonso joins the order in seventh fastest with the benefit of improved track conditions after sitting out the early stages.

49 min: Ricciardo has moved up the timesheet to fifth place, after posting 1m30.708s.

50 min: Rosberg is up one spot to second with an improved lap of 1m29.811s. He is 0.127s down on Button's benchmark.

50 min: Vettel and Webber are on track now to begin their first run of the morning.

51 min: Ricciardo continues to improve. The Australian is into fourth with a time of 1m30.011s.

52 min: Schumacher improves with 1m30.187s to go fifth, while Webber makes an entrance in sixth spot after his first timed lap - 1m30.252s.

53 min: Vettel took his first lap much more easily, posting 1m32.502s. He is in 18th for now.

54 min: Webber goes quickest of all with a time of 1m28.963s on his second timed lap.

54 min: Schumacher moves up to second spot, behind Webber, with 1m29.596s.

55 min: Vettel also predictably improves his pace, moving up to seventh with a time of 1m30.156s.

55 min: Vettel moves further up at the completion of his next lap. He is second to his team-mate, with a lap of 1m29.251s.

56 min: So, suddenly it is a Red Bull one-two in this first practice session, followed by Schumacher, Button, Rosberg and Massa.

56 min: Both McLaren drivers are back on track for a second run on used tyres.

58 min: Alonso springs up to third fastest in 1m29.551s but is over half a second off Webber's current benchmark.

60 min: Rosberg heads out to begin another run in the Mercedes. He has slipped to sixth on the timesheet, 0.848s off Webber's Red Bull.

61 min: Alonso improves to second position as his run continues. His time is remarkably identical to Webber's earlier best - 1m28.963s.

63 min: Di Resta has just logged an improvement of 1m30.174s. That puts him in ninth place, 0.429s clear of team-mate Hulkenberg.

63 min: Webber crosses the line to take the benchmark further away, with a lap of 1m28.229s.

64 min: Webber has a gap of 0.734s on Alonso now, with Button third, Vettel fourth, Schumacher fifth, Rosberg sixth and Massa in seventh.

65 min: Hulkenberg is now on track for his second run of laps. He should be looking to bridge that four-tenths gap to team-mate di Resta.

66 min: Hulkenberg improves marginally on his first timed lap, with 1m30.432s.

66 min: Massa clocks a 1m28.996s to take fifth fastest despite a lurid slide on his latest lap.

68 min: Some set-up work going on with Webber's car in the garage including front wing tweaks. Adrian Newey is taking a good look around the front left corner of the RB8.

68 min: Alonso wrestles his Ferrari around the final corner to improve his best to a 1m28.918s.

69 min: Vettel improved to second place with a time of 1m28.532s, then pitted shortly afterwards, citing increasing traffic on the circuit.

69 min: Hamilton clocks 1m28.765s to go third fastest.

70 min: Rosberg is quickest of all through the first sector in the Mercedes.

70 min: The German is currently down in fifth but looking good here to improve.

70 min: Gutierrez has a scare as he slides off track at Turn 9. The Mexican does just keep Perez's car out of the barriers and continues.

70 min: Rosberg does move up, but perhaps not as much as expected. He is now fourth with 1m28.908s.

72 min: Alonso continues his progress as he takes the fastest time in 1m28.210s despite a minor moment early in the lap.

72 min: But Hamilton is now quickest in 1m28.046s.

73 min: Schumacher logs an improved time of 1m28.993s. He is now sixth and within one second of the leading pace.

74 min: Hamilton is fastest in the first sector on his next lap as he's told to return to the McLaren pits.

76 min: Ricciardo recently improved to ninth spot in the Toro Rosso with a better lap of 1m29.786s.

77 min: The Australian is leading a tight bunch of cars all the way down to 15th place. They are covered by just over two-tenths of a second.

78 min: Webber and Vettel are back on track for a final run. The latter had some changes made to the front suspension, which were watched carefully by the eagle eye of Adrian Newey.

79 min: Vettel is looking quicker than on his previous run here and yes - he tops the list by just 0.010s with a time of 1m28.036s.

80 min: That puts him one-hundredth clear of Hamilton, with Alonso third and Webber on an improving lap in fourth place.

80 min: Webber has backed off in the middle section of the lap, after posting a personal best in the early stages.

81 min: Webber in fact aborted the lap and came into the pits, so two tours only there for the Australian.

81 min: Raikkonen is back on track to further test the revised front wing on his Lotus.

82 min: Alonso is also heading out again to test aerodynamic revisions to the Ferrari.

82 min: Meantime, his team-mate Vettel is flying, but he makes a crucial error at the penultimate corner and loses time. He remains quickest.

83 min: At the bottom of the timesheet, Pedro de la Rosa has only completed eight laps this morning, with just over six minutes of the session left.

84 min: Webber is back on the circuit to continue running in the final stages.

85 min: Both McLaren drivers are also on track for late runs on used tyres.

85 min: Vergne makes a small improvement to 17th with a time of 1m30.401s in the Toro Rosso.

86 min: Alonso is still finding pace in his Ferrari, clocking 1m28.044s - just fractions off Vettel's current benchmark.

87 min: Button clocks a 1m28.166s to go fourth fastest.

88 min: Vettel takes the benchmark well away from Alonso with a lap of 1m27.619s. The gap is now up to 0.425s.

88 min: Drivers still finding laptime in these closing stages despite aging rubber, indicating that grip levels continue to improve.

88 min: Webber also improves in the sister RB8, but he lies only fifth with 1m28.175s.

89 min: De la Rosa is now into some timed laps after being delayed in the garage for much of the session. He remains 24th for the moment.

90 min: The flag is out on first practice in India.

06:00 Button clocks 1m27.929s to go second fastest as he takes the flag.

06:01 De la Rosa posts his quickest lap with 1m32.859s. He stays rooted to the bottom of the timesheet, but he is only seven-tenths down on team-mate Karthikeyan, after completing half the number of laps.

06:02 Bottas logged an improvement of 1m29.691s with his last lap of the session. He ends his outing in a creditable 11th spot.

06:03 Sebastian Vettel - who else? - tops first practice in India with a time of 1m27.619s, three-tenths clear of Button, with Alonso third.

06:04 Hamilton ends the morning in fourth spot, with Webber fifth, Rosberg sixth, Massa seventh and Schumacher in eighth spot.

06:05 Ricciardo finished the session well in ninth place and Kimi Raikkonen rounds out the top 10 for Lotus after a largely trouble-free session.

06:06 It is looking close between the McLaren drivers, Alonso and Webber so far, but Vettel just has that edge on them this morning.

06:06 That's it for now. Join us later for more practice action from the Buddh International Circuit.