Just a reminder of the grid with five minutes to go:

1) Lewis Hamilton 2) Nico Rosberg 3) Valtteri Bottas 4) Jenson Button 5) Daniil Kvyat 6) Daniel Ricciardo 7) Fernando Alonso 8) Kimi Raikkonen 9) Jean-Eric Vergne 10) Sebastian Vettel

11) Kevin Magnussen* 12) Sergio Perez 13) Esteban Gutierrez 14) Adrian Sutil 15) Romain Grosjean 16) Marcus Ericsson 17) Nico Hulkenberg* 18) Felipe Massa 19) Kamui Kobayashi 20) Max Chilton* 21) Pastor Maldonado*

* Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Chilton have penalties for gearbox changes while Maldonado has a remaining penalty carried over from Japan following an engine change.

Image source, AFP

Four-time reigning Sebastian Vettel was mathematically eliminated from the title race at Suzuka which makes today's race the first in which the German has competed without either having a chance to win the title or having already done so since the 2009 Abu Dhabi GP.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Sochi

"This weekend has been a struggle for Red Bull, just like their experience in Austria, a track many engineers reckoned to be similar in its demands of the cars. Daniel Ricciardo qualified seventh and the record between him and team-mate Sebastian Vettel is now 10-six, so the Australian knows he will end the season having out-qualified the four-time world champion more often than not.

"Vettel complained, as he so often has this year, of the car not doing what he wanted. 'The pace wasn't there,' the German said. 'I was struggling a lot with the rear and couldn't carry the speed into the corners I was able to this morning, so generally not able to get the best out of the car through the corners as we do struggle down the straights not the best compromise around the lap.'"

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton is attempting to win four in a row for the second time in 2014, having done so at the Malaysian, Bahrain, Chinese and Spanish GPs in the first half of the season. Nobody has ever won four in a row in any F1 season without also going on to win the championship.

Image source, Getty Images

Pole position hasn't been such a happy starting spot for Nico Rosberg this season. The German has won only one of his last six starts from pole (Germany).

He's pictured here getting pushed away from the grid in Singapore after a steering problem didn't allow him to get away from P1 on the formation lap. It's probably just as well he's starting second, then.

Luke Edwards:, external Got a feeling Bottas may win today

Nicky:, external I'm saying Ricciardo will win this!

Jeremiah Kariuki:, external Predictions of a good take off by @LewisHamilton, Bottas getting Nico off guard. Good start for Massa, and Jenson as well!

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Sochi

Image source, Getty Images

"One of the star performances of qualifying came from Daniil Kvyat, the Russian setting fifth-fastest time in the Toro Rosso at his home race. The result raised the eyebrows of a few cynics, but Kvyat insisted there was no 'magic' in his best result since qualifying seventh in Austria - a not-dissimilar circuit layout. 'Looking back, at the Red Bull Ring in qualifying, where DRS didn't work for me on my fast lap, I could have been P5, no doubt,' Kvyat said. 'Still, I drove a few good qualifyings this year.

"This is probably one of the best in terms of driving, but still it's not like I found some magic trick today. I was just doing what I was always doing, but we came fifth.' The Toro Rossos had been up at the sharp end all weekend - unusually looking better than the senior Red Bull team. Jean-Eric Vergne had been evenly matched with Kvyat until qualifying, when a problem with his fuel-flow meter cost him power and he could manage only 10th. The Frenchman, still looking for a drive in 2015, reckoned this had cost him about 0.7secs - funnily enough, about the gap separating him from his team-mate."

Eddie Jordan
BBC F1 chief analyst

"It was a wakening day, everyone has to learn from this. I really liked what Charlie Whiting had to say about taking the decision about slowing down away from the driver. The drivers are naturally competitive and they are not going to slow down, they will think they can handle the situation. Like the pit lane it has to be the governing body who makes the decision, take the decision away from the drivers."

You can read more about plans for a virtual safety car here.

Following the Russian national anthem, there's a short silence as the drivers' direct their thoughts to Jules Bianchi.

The drivers have come together at the front of the grid, with the organisers beaming the message 'Jules, we are all supporting you' onto the circuit.

Image source, Getty Images

McLaren are currently sixth in the constructors' championship - if they finish there, it'll make this season their worst since 1981, which coincidentally, was the first season of Ron Dennis' ownership, when John Barnard designed the first all-carbon fibre F1 car (MP4) for John Watson and Andrea de Cesaris (pictured).

Note, this stat does not include their exclusion from first in the 2007 championship.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Sochi

"It has been an encouraging weekend for McLaren, who have looked the third fastest team in Russia. Jenson Button duly qualified fourth, behind the Mercedes and Valtteri Bottas's Williams. 'I'm sure some of it is track-specific and asphalt-specific but I do feel we have made some improvements,' Button said. 'I didn't lock up in qualifying, which is always a bonus. So I actually did a lap time that was worthy of the car, if you like, whereas the last few qualifying sessions I've made a mistake and locked up. I felt like it was a good lap. I don't think P4 is too bad. I'm very happy with that.'

"Team-mate Kevin Magnussen, who had looked quicker than Button for single-lap pace throughout practice, managed sixth, which was a very good effort in the light of a series of problems. The Dane lost final practice when, as he put it, 'the rear of my car fell off - the gearbox cracked in Turn Three.' Then after making a mistake on his first run in final qualifying and aborting, he suffered a problem with the FIA fuel-flow meter and had to turn the engine down. To qualify sixth, only 0.21secs slower than Button in the circumstances, was very impressive. He starts 11th as a result of the penalty for changing the broken gearbox."

Image source, AP

The Russian Grand Prix organisers have certainly put some effort into the pre-race show to keep the fans, which have packed the main grandstand on the start-finish straight, entertained.

We've got 18 minutes until the start of the race, which is plenty of time for you to get a fresh cuppa and raid the cupboards for snacks before sinking into the sofa.

Image source, Valtteri Bottas

Williams' Valtteri Bottas on Twitter after qualifying:, external Starting third for the race of opportunities here in Sochi. Car felt good in qualifying so looking forward.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Sochi

Image source, AP

"The closing seconds of qualifying were nail-biting stuff, as Williams's Valtteri Bottas set purple sector times - indicating fastest of all - in the first two sectors of the lap. He then pushed too hard in the final sector, and ran wide at the last corner. But he admitted that pole was probably never a realistic possibility because the Williams cannot compete with the greater downforce of the Mercedes in the twisty final sector.

"'I still think they are quicker in the corners than us so I would have been difficult to be on pole,' he said. 'Looking back maybe I took too much out of the tyres in the beginning of the lap and it got tricky in the last few corners. I risked it a bit too much in the last two corners and went a bit wide and here when you go off line it is very slippery. It's not nice to make a mistake. It maybe cost one place maximum.' Even so, he has looked a threat to Rosberg, if not Hamilton, all weekend. Can he challenge the Mercedes in the race? 'I really hope so,' the Finn said."

"The most important thing is Lewis and Nico coming in through the same door," says Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda when asked if winning the constructors' championship is the main goal today.

"The constructors' championship is very important to us but Lewis and Nico have to both behave and finish today. Bottas is a big problem for us and so is the safety car, so it's a big race today."

It's a long run down to Turn One. Can Rosberg stay close enough to making it interesting to the first corner?

Image source, Getty Images

While Ferrari have had a miserable season, it couldn't have gone much better for Mercedes, who are likely to clinch their first-ever constructors' championship this weekend.

Red Bull need to outscore Mercedes, who run Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, by 19 points to keep the title alive - and judging by the reigning world champion's pace so far this weekend, it's difficult to see that happening.

Image source, Getty Images

It has been a desperate season for Ferrari. First, they built a car that wasn't good enough. Then they parted ways with team boss Stefano Domenicali before their long-time president Luca Di Montezemolo stepped down last month. And Fernando Alonso is set to leave the team at the end of the season, after failing to win the title in five attempts with the Italian outfit.

They now have just four races in which to avoid a first winless season since 1993 (when Gerhard Berger - pictured - and Jean Alesi drove for the team) - and that's looking very unlikely. Just two podium finishes this year would also be their poorest return since they only scored two back in 1992, in the midst of their four-year losing streak between the 1990 Spanish and 1994 German GP.

Phil Slocombe:, external I think Lewis has the edge over Nico, both psychologically and on track, so I see another win for him. Daniel [Ricciardo] is a future champ.

Rhys Benjamin:, external The combined age of next year's Toro Rosso line-up could be smaller than the age of Jenson Button.