Welcome to LIVE coverage of qualifying for the European Grand Prix from Valencia!

So it's Sebastian Vettel on pole yet again... he just cannot be stopped.

1-Vettel, 2-Webber, 3-Hamilton, 4-Alonso, 5-Massa, 6-Button, 7-Rosberg, 8-Schumacher, 9-Heidfeld, 10-Sutil. The last two did not even bother with a lap!

Which means that as Vettel nears the end of the lap, he knows pole position is his - so he just pulls nonchalantly into the pit lane. A bit of a disappointment in terms of spectacle...

And Hamilton into the pits! Massa P5, Button P6...

Alonso goes into the pits! He abandons his quick lap!

Webber goes P2 but here comes the cavalry...

OK, they are all coming through for a barrage of flying laps - this should be fun.

Heidfeld, Schumacher and Sutil come out - they are all relying on a single lap to determined their qualifying position.

Slightly ragged lap for Rosberg... 1:38.231 and he stays seventh. He won't have time to come in and get out, so that's it from him.

Pow! 1:36.975 for Seb Vettel, four tenths quicker than Hamilton in second, then Alonso, Webber, Button, Massa...

Alonso records the first lap of the session... 1:37.454 - he'll need another lap if he is to get on to pole.

Fernando Alonso is immediately out on the track, with a new set of soft tyres.

Right then, it's Q3! Ten minutes to sort out the top 10 on the grid!

The men to drop out: 11-Petrov, 12-Di Resta, 13-Barrichello, 14-Kobayashi, 15-Maldonado, 16-Perez, 17-Buemi.

Petrov cannot respond, and he is eliminated in P2!

Chequered flag out, and Sutil goes 10th ahead of Petrov!

The top six stay in the pits, and with time ticking down the men in danger are Sutil, Di Resta, Barrichello, Kobayashi, Maldonado, Perez and Buemi.

Kobayashi is only 13th and he is in trouble - and Barrichello fails to climb into the top 10.

Many drivers keep their powder dry in the pits, but the men at the bottom of the field are out on the track.

We're back under way! It seems like a throttle failure was the issue, though it is strange that Maldonado stopped in the middle of the track.