The pit lane empties as all 10 cars head out for one final run. Three minutes until the chequered flag. Lewis Hamilton has it all to do.

With five minutes to go, everyone heads back to the pits. Only nine cars have set a time. Adrian Sutil has chosen to stay in the garage.

1) Ros 2) Ham 3) Bot 4) Mas 5) But 6) Mag 7) Alo 8) Ric 9) Rai

Valtteri Bottas is third quickest, with Felipe Massa fourth and Jenson Button fifth.

Image source, Reuters

No he can't. Lewis Hamilton goes second with a 1:36.443, just over a tenth off the pace.

Mercedes on Twitter, external: Purple S1 for Nico, purple S2 for Lewis, so close!

Advantage Nico Rosberg, the German clocking a 1:36.282. Can Lewis Hamilton beat that?

Frazer Dart, external: I'm disappointed the Force Indias are out. Would've liked to have seen HUL and PER do well. Hopefully a good race tomorrow for them.

Sean Craddock, external: That time from Rosberg is ridiculous! This is going to be a fast Q3!

Tom, external: If there is a plus side to the Marussia and Caterham teams not competing, it's that all 18 drivers fit into my laptop screen.

Daniel Ricciardo lays down the first marker, a 1:38.120 in the Red Bull. The Mercedes and Williams should have no problem beating that, though.

Image source, EPA

So this is it. The final part of qualifying. The bit that matters. Who will seize the day?

Jennie Gow
BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter

"We're hearing that Caterham's Marcus Ericsson and [Sauber reserve driver] Giedo van der Garde have signed for Sauber. So Sutil might not have a seat for next year."

Image source, EPA

Ed Stevens, external: Hamilton to take pole. Would love to see Bottas and Ricciardo next in line.

My Old RE Teacher, external: Complaints about F1 costs? Remember when top teams had engines just for qualifying? Things changed, but F1 will always be expensive!

Carol Bolger, external: Important laps ahead come on @LewisHamilton.

1) Nico Rosberg 2) Lewis Hamilton 3) Felipe Massa 4) Valtteri Bottas 5) Daniel Ricciardo 6) Fernando Alonso 7) Jenson Button 8) Kevin Magnussen 9) Kimi Raikkonen 10) Adrian Sutil

11) Pastor Maldonado 12) Sergio Perez 13) Nico Hulkenberg 14) Daniil Kvyat

Sauber on Twitter, external: P10 for Adrian and first time in Q3 this year! #pushpush

That was some lap from Adrian Sutil, who scrapes into the top 10 for the first time this season in the Sauber. The German sounds pretty calm as his engineer gives him the good news, but you can here whooping in the background as team members on the pit wall celebrate the result.

Image source, Getty Images

Good lap from Nico Rosberg, on a fresh set of soft tyres. The German clocked a 1:36.290, the fastest time of the weekend, to go one second clear of Lewis Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg sets the fastest time in the second part of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.

Interestingly, Nico Rosberg has come back out for one more run. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniil Kvyat, Adrian Sutil and Pastor Maldonado are in the drop zone.

Felipe Massa pulls a very quick lap out of the bag to move into third, 0.248 seconds off the pace set by Nico Rosberg. His Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas improves, too, moving into fourth, 0.4 seconds adrift of Rosberg.

Image source, Reuters

The top five - Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen - are in the pits, seemingly confident they've done enough to make it through to Q3. Four minutes to go.