Lewis Hamilton finishes fastest in the second part of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Image source, AP

Thirty seconds left and Max Verstappen, Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado and Marcus Ericsson are in need of improvements...

Ben Edwards
BBC F1 commentator

"It is 100 grands prix since Kimi Raikkonen was last on pole position and he won't get another one here.”

Now then. This could make things interesting. There's rain drops are falling on the circuit...

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel leaps up into P2 after a 1:20.045, splitting the Mercedes.

Image source, EPA

Scrap that about Kimi Raikkonen. He is out of his Ferrari and walking down the pit lane. His qualifying is over.

Kimi Raikkonen then pits, presumably to strap on some soft boots and get himself a time good enough to progress to Q3. 

The leading trio of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Daniil Kvyat have also pitted. 

Five minutes remaining and in the elimination zone are:

11) Verstappen 12) Maldonado 13) Ericsson 14) Raikkonen 15) Vettel

David Coulthard
BBC F1 co-commentator

“Vettel heading out relatively late so is confident he can do a time to get into the top ten in Q2.”     

Sebastian Vettel, seven minutes into Q2, emerges onto the track for the first time in this session just as his Ferrari team-mate, on medium tyres, spins after losing his rear in braking.

Nico Rosberg crosses the line with a time two tenths of a second slower than his Mercedes team-mate, putting him second for now.

Max Verstappen sets the initial pace with 1:21.184 but the rest of the cars are coming round on their laps and Lewis Hamilton swiftly takes his place at the top of the pile with a 1:20.129. 

He improves with his next effort, becoming the first driver into the 1:19s this weekend as he posts a 1:19.829.

Image source, AFP

Tom Clarkson
BBC F1 pit-lane reporter

"Kimi Raikkonen is not going for a time, he is getting some race preparation in. We will have to wait until later in this session to see what he can do."

Everyone is out on the soft tyres except for Kimi Raikkonen, who has opted for the medium compound. Bit weird.

Off we go. The second part of qualifying starts and the battle for a place in the top 10 is under way.

Image source, AP

Jenson Button has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 live's Jennie Gow about his absence from qualifying due to problems with his McLaren-Honda.

The Englishman was in typically level-headed form, saying: "It’s a system failure so we can’t run, we’ve got to change the engine and revert to another one for the race. 

"It’s been a very limited running weekend… so it’s a tough one but we can’t do much about it. Can’t complain, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day."

Big shame. McLaren had appeared to have shown some signs of promise for a good weekend in practice, but it is not to be as Fernando Alonso exits at the first stage. 

Both he and Jenson Button are starting at the back of the grid anyway because of various penalties.

1) Rosberg 2) Vettel 3) Hamilton 4) Bottas 5) Kvyat 6) Sainz 7) Perez 8) Verstappen 9) Ricciardo 10) Ericsson

11) Hulkenberg 12) Massa 13) Raikkonen 14) Maldonado 15) Grosjean