08:25 Hello everyone and welcome back to AUTOSPORT Live for continuing news and updates from round 17 of this year's FIA Formula 1 world championship - the India Grand Prix from the Buddh International Circuit.

World championship leader Sebastian Vettel continued this morning where he left off at Yeongam two weeks ago by heading the field during first practice. His lap of 1m27.619s was a good three-tenths of a second clear of Jenson Button, with the German's main challenger in the title race - Fernando Alonso - in third spot. Lewis Hamilton placed fourth, just ahead of Mark Webber in the other Red Bull Renault, while Nico Rosberg was sixth in the leading Mercedes entry.

Vettel quickest in opening India practice

Unsurprisingly, Sergio Perez has recovered sufficiently from his apparent cold to take part in the upcoming second practice session. Esteban Gutierrez deputised this morning, completing 29 laps of the 5.137km track and ending up in 20th position. His best lap was 1.410s shy of Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.

For the rest, it is now a case of continuing with more intensive set-up work, testing with a full fuel load and working through back-to-back comparison runs with both types of tyre - all in an effort to find the best practical solution for Sunday's 60-lap race.

08:26 Weather conditions remain dry and bright around the circuit with a light, westerly breeze to keep the spectators cool.

Air temperature has climbed to a maximum of 30 Celsius, while down on the track surface a maximum approaching 39 or even 40 Celsius is anticipated.

08:27 Soft and hard tyres are the allocation this weekend, with the customary single set of the latter used throughout first practice as the track conditions rapidly improved.

Drivers will experiment with both compounds in the upcoming session, focusing on getting a measure on durability for Sunday's race.

08:27 Perez looks fit and healthy as he takes back his seat in the Sauber.

08:28 At Williams, Valtteri Bottas moves aside and Bruno Senna takes over his race seat for the rest of the weekend.

08:29 Heikki Kovalainen is also back in his machine after handing it to van der Garde this morning.

0 min: The practice session is underway.

0 min: Kobayashi is the first out of the pits this afternoon.

0 min: Vergne joins the Japanese driver on track.

0 min: In the pits, Karthikeyan is advised that there is a slight tail-wind between Turns 3 and 4.

1 min: Kovalainen gets the Caterham going, having complained about the brake pedal being soft before the green light.

1 min: Maldonado heads out for a run in his Williams, followed a few seconds later by team-mate Senna.

1 min: De la Rosa was not able to complete a full morning programme in the HRT. He is among the early runners in this session.

2 min: Perez finally gets his chance to head out in the Sauber.

2 min: Karthikeyan and Ricciardo also take to the track for a run. Typically, the drivers complete between five and seven laps straight out of the box at the beginning of the second session.

3 min: Vettel joins the circuit, while Schumacher is content to wait and watch for a little longer in the Mercedes garage.

4 min: Vergne posts the first time on the board with 1m37.147s.

4 min: Maldonado quickly moves to the front with 1m31.240s.

4 min: Grosjean is next to top the early times in 1m30.201s.

4 min: Senna slots into third place with 1m31.951s - his first timed lap of the weekend.

5 min: Hulkenberg, di Resta and Rosberg are now on the circuit, leaving only four drivers left in the pits.

5 min: All but the Ferrari pair now out on track for a busy start to this afternoon session.

5 min: Rosberg is told over the team radio that he is on the qualifying KERS programme. This would be consistent with a short run in the early stages of this session.

6 min: Ricciardo moves into second spot, behind Grosjean, with a time of 1m30.941s.

6 min: Vettel's first effort is a standard building lap of 1m34.972s. He is down the list in 14th for the moment.

7 min: Perez clocks 1m31.403s to take fifth in the early standings.

7 min: Ricciardo continues on for a second timed lap and takes over at the front with 1m29.503s.

7 min: Senna moves into second place behind the Australian with 1m29.772s.

8 min: Replays of Vettel and Senna almost coming into contact rounding the final corner. As a result, Vettel did not improve on his second timed lap.

9 min: Webber quickly asserts himself at the head of the list with a time of 1m28.847s in the other Red Bull.

9 min: Button springs up to third fastest in 1m29.595s as he continues the early stages of a long run with the harder tyres.

9 min: Schumacher completes a lap of 1m30.570s and is ninth so far after just one timed effort.

10 min: Vergne is back into the pits, after a run of six laps in the Toro Rosso.

11 min: Alonso and Massa finally join the circuit, with the Ferrari pair the only drivers still to set a time.

11 min: On his last lap, Ricciardo spun and continued at Turn 16. He lost around seven seconds.

11 min: Senna got a clean lap in and moved ahead of Ricciardo and into second spot with a time of 1m28.996s.

11 min: Button moves to the top of the order with a new 1m28.548s best.

12 min: Ricciardo has recovered from that spin and improves with 1m29.097s to haul himself back up to fifth.

12 min: But it is Vettel who blasts round in 1m28.064s to move back to a position he knows well - P1.

13 min: Webber improves with a time of 1m28.094s and we have a Red Bull one-two yet again. The gap is 0.030s.

13 min: Massa joins the order in fourth fastest, some nine tenths off the Red Bull pace.

14 min: McLaren drivers Button and Hamilton lie third and fourth, with Massa fifth, Senna sixth and Schumacher in seventh spot.

15 min: Alonso completes his fifth lap in 1m27.785s to put his Ferrari on top of the pile.

15 min: The early flurry of laps is coming towards a conclusion, with almost half the field back into the pits for changes.

16 min: Schumacher has moved up two places to fifth with a lap of 1m28.552s, as Vettel pits to end an eight lap run.

17 min: Only a handful of drivers left on the circuit, with the first run almost complete. Alonso heads the field by 0.279s over Vettel with Webber third.

18 min: Many drivers are now back in the pits for some data analysis while Hamilton tops the first sector.

18 min: Hamilton completes his lap in 1m27.762s to become the latest holder of the session benchmark.

20 min: Vergne is back out there for a second run in his Toro Rosso. He is 18th in the classification with a best time of 1m30.539s, so far.

21 min: Alonso improves to 1m27.402s on his long run with the hard tyres, going over three tenths clear at the top of the times.

22 min: De la Rosa also begins his second run of the afternoon in the HRT.

22 min: Massa has looked uneasy on the circuit this afternoon and has now spun the Ferrari.

23 min: Massa slid sideways out of Turn 12, slewing across the road and towards the barriers.

23 min: Senna is another to leave the pits and begin a second string of laps. He is currently eighth, 1.594s off Alonso's benchmark time.

23 min: Massa has reversed the Ferrari out of the hedge but will have damage to his tyres.

25 min: Grosjean is the next to spin in a similar location to Massa.

25 min: Vettel rejoins the circuit to begin his second run in the Red Bull. He is six-tenths down on Alonso after that initial burst of laps.

25 min: Replays show Grosjean running well wide over the kerbs at Turn 10, pitching his Lotus into a half-spin.

26 min: Webber follows the German out of the pitlane a few seconds later.

27 min: Senna is the next to spin. He comes to a halt without needing to use the run-off area and rejoins, losing around 12 seconds.

28 min: Senna slewed sideways at Turn 4, but he has continued with his second run.

29 min: Grosjean is unhappy with the rear grip from his Lotus and has returned to the pits.

29 min: Vergne reports over the team radio that he is struggling with brakes. He cut his second run short and only managed a few laps.

30 min: Petrov is the first man to head out on the soft tyres.

30 min: Meantime, Vettel has improved and is now 0.246s down on Alonso's best time, after posting 1m27.648s.

31 min: Senna moves up the list to fourth spot with 1m27.946s.

31 min: Massa is also contemplating a move to soft rubber, having damaged his hard tyres in that earlier spin.

32 min: Rosberg finds some time and duly moves up to seventh spot, with a lap of 1m28.517s.

32 min: Vettel continues his progress and retakes the top spot with 1m27.256s, edging out Alonso by 0.146s.

34 min: Ricciardo completes his lap out of the pits on soft tyres. The Australian is currently 12th with a best time of 1m29.097s.

35 min: Rosberg states over the radio that he is struggling with the rear of the car. Nevertheless, he moves up to sixth with 1m28.104s.

35 min: Petrov continues his evaluation of the soft tyres, which has put the Caterham man up in 17th.

35 min: Ricciardo completes his first timed lap and moves up to 10th with 1m28.680s.

36 min: A different of four-tenths of a second there for Ricciardo. He has now backed off to cool his option tyres.

37 min: A lot of work going on around Mark Webber's car. He only managed four laps on his second run, compared with Vettel's seven, before coming in.

38 min: Ricciardo is having another go against the clock after cooling his tyres. He moves up again to seventh with 1m28.239s.

39 min: So Ricciardo has found a little more than eight-tenths of a second on the soft tyre, but in stages.

40 min: Another slow lap for Ricciardo and he is back into the pits this time to complete his run on soft tyres.

41 min: Raikkonen is now underway with soft tyres on his Lotus.

42 min: Webber is back in the car and is watching the monitor, as work continues around the front end of the RB8.

43 min: Problems also for Karthikeyan, as he is reversed into the HRT garage on a trolley, rather than being pushed.

43 min: Raikkonen finds 1.25s on soft tyres to move up to third in 1m27.507s.

44 min: Rosberg and Senna are out for a third run of the session. Both drivers are in the top seven.

44 min: Button has resumed for another run on the hard tyres.

44 min: At the halfway stage, Vettel leads the pack with 1m27.256s, with Alonso second, Raikkonen now third, Hamilton fourth and Senna in fifth.

45 min: Grosjean also likes the soft tyres on his Lotus, jumping up to second fastest with a 1m27.397s lap.

46 min: Front suspension alterations continue, but for Vettel this time. The Red Bull mechanics have been changing settings on both cars throughout the day.

47 min: Raikkonen further improves his best to a 1m27.030s as he finds more pace in the soft tyres to top the times.

47 min: Rosberg improves to fifth place in the Mercedes with 1m27.513s.

49 min: Alonso now has soft tyres on his Ferrari and runs wide at Turn 9.

49 min: Changes are complete on Webber's side of the garage at least. The Australian heads out to begin his third run.

50 min: Massa has been exploring the scenery again, this time braking a touch late at the end of the straight into Turn 4.

51 min: Rosberg is out there on soft tyres, which explains his improvement to fifth. He backed off for a lap and has just gone quickest.

51 min: That's not the only off for Massa on that lap as he ends up backwards into the gravel at Turn 9.

51 min: Rosberg's lap was 1m27.022s and that is just 0.008s clear of Raikkonen's recent effort.

51 min: Massa has again got his Ferrari back on the asphalt but it hasn't been the Brazilian's finest afternoon.

52 min: Meanwhile, Alonso is up to third fastest with soft tyres on his Ferrari.

52 min: We appear to be back to familiar form this weekend, with the soft tyres giving initial grip for the first lap, then one lap to cool before delivering the best performance on the next attempt.

53 min: Massa reports a "very strange" balance with his car and will surely be heading back to the pits for checks.

53 min: Schumacher is also out there on the soft compound. He is rounding out the top 10 for now, with a best time of 1m28.222s.

54 min: Replays of Hulkenberg spinning away the best use of his soft tyres at Turn 9. The German has recovered and is continuing out there.

55 min: Alonso finds further improvement on his softs to top the times in 1m26.964s.

55 min: Massa is back in the Ferrari garage and the flatspots on his tyres mean the Brazilian will now be very short of usable rubber.

55 min: Vettel is now on his soft tyre run and looking to improve, although he is encountering a lot of traffic so far.

56 min: Vettel weaves his way through the traffic and is still able to go quickest with a time of 1m26.921s.

56 min: Hamilton improves on his soft tyres but a 1m27.356s is only enough for sixth fastest.

57 min: Vettel has a slender buffer of 0.043s over Alonso, with Rosberg third, Raikkonen fourth, Webber fifth and Hamilton in sixth.

59 min: Webber's initial effort on soft tyres was unspectacular, but after cooling he has produced a time of 1m26.339s to go quickest.

59 min: Button ends up fractions down on team-mate Hamilton in seventh.

59 min: But Vettel is also completing a great lap and he comes round in 1m26.221s to retakes the top spot.

60 min: While the Red Bull drivers were hogging the limelight, Hulkenberg was also on a good lap. He is up to eighth with 1m27.233s.

60 min: Massa's Ferrari has been put up on stands for inspection and the Brazilian has walked away from the troublesome machine.

61 min: Vettel, Webber and Hulkenberg are all back into the pits after their soft tyre run.

62 min: The result of all this is that the Red Bull pair are back to being just under half-a-second clear of the chasing pack, led by Alonso.

63 min: This fits with what we saw this morning, when Vettel topped the list by three-tenths of a second.

64 min: Long runs now being pondered in the pitlane, although Massa won't be doing much of that after damaging both his allocated sets of tyres.

64 min: Schumacher and Rosberg have recently left the pits to begin their fourth run of the afternoon. Cue the lengthy stint in preparation for Sunday's race.

67 min: Raikkonen is lapping in the late 1m32s bracket as he gets on with a long run in the Lotus on softs.

67 min: De la Rosa is working through his soft tyre run. He has just put in a lap of 1m30.950s to go 21st, ahead of his team-mate and both Marussia drivers.

68 min: De la Rosa subsequently pits after that improved effort and HRT will now likely join the rest of the pitlane in focusing on long run pace.

69 min: Webber leaves the pits to begin his lengthy run, while Vettel remains in the garage just for a another moment or two.

70 min: More drivers heading out for the race evaluation now, with Alonso out on softs and Massa being prepared for an outing on his wonky hards.

71 min: Vettel, Senna and di Resta head out to join the group.

73 min: Webber completes his latest lap in 1m33.444s.

74 min: Raikkonen's pace is in the low 1m33s as his long run continues on soft tyres. Team-mate Grosjean is on a similar pace.

76 min: Webber comes round again in a consistent 1m33.3s pace, but Vettel is three-tenths quicker, gaining nearly all of that time in the first sector.

77 min: Alonso's race pace is also strong on softs with the Ferrari lapping in the mid 1m32s.

79 min: Vettel backed off in the middle sector of his latest lap. He crosses the line and goes again.

79 min: Hamilton is told his "pace is good for this fuel load" as he indeed sets a strong 1m32.3s effort.

81 min: Vettel completes his next lap in 1m32.731s. It just shows you how much the circuit condition is improving, allied to the fuel load coming down gradually.

82 min: Another tour for Vettel and this time it's 1m32.776s - 0.045s difference in his last two laps.

83 min: Vettel is advised on the level of KERS required to optimise the car through a lap, as he circulates. Now he comes round in 1m32.340s.

84 min: Button has pitted his McLaren and may be making a late switch to the harder tyres.

84 min: The German is then told 'another five timed laps' by his race engineer, as he continues to gather important data for the race.

85 min: Caterham is looking in to an engine issue with Petrov's car and that may end the Russian's work for the day.

86 min: Alonso clocks a quick 1m31.997s lap late in his long run on softs, which is competitive with the times being set by Hamilton.

87 min: Hamilton is encouraged on by McLaren, being told he is "the fastest car on high fuel"

87 min: HRT has confirmed that Karthikeyan's session has been cut short by hydraulic issues. He was trollied in some time ago and hasn't resurfaced.

90 min: The flag is out on second practice.

10:01 Button did not return to action after heading in to the garage a few minutes ago, while Hamilton is wrapping up a strong race-pace run.

10:01 Drivers are heading round to complete their final laps now, getting every last second of data that they can on their way back to the pits.

10:02 Vettel completes his final tour in 1m31.212s. That is an overall improvement of 1.8s over a 13 lap run.

10:03 The long and the short (run) of it, is that Vettel is quickest in second practice with a best time of 1m26.221s, ahead of team-mate Webber.

10:04 Alonso was third for Ferrari, but almost six-tenths of a second down on the German's time. Rosberg was fourth with Raikkonen in fifth spot.

10:05 Hamilton ended up sixth in the McLaren, just ahead of team-mate Jenson Button, with Nico Hulkenberg in a promising eighth for Force India.

10:06 Grosjean finishes the day in ninth place, while Senna rounds out the top 10 after sitting out first practice this morning.

10:07 Other notables: The man with the 'heavy cold' - Sergio Perez - placed 12th. You'll agree that he produced a herculean effort to do that...

10:08 Schumacher rounded out his day in 13th spot, 1.2 seconds down on team-mate Rosberg.

10:08 So it's Red Bull looking good once again with the rest attempting to hold the gap to Vettel and Webber.

10:09 That's it from AUTOSPORT Live today. We will be back tomorrow for all the final practice and qualifying action from the Indian Grand Prix.