I could hear fat soft tyres dropping into wet potholes.

When the session restarted, the team were forced to sacrifice one set of soft tyres for both cars.

Soon the track started to dry and drivers were heading to the pits for soft tyres.

However, as the second phase of the session began, the drivers switched to the softer tyres and the order changed rapidly.

Several teams, including Ferrari, were forced to sacrifice a set of soft tyres simply to progress to Q2.

However, Vettel left the pit with the slower soft tyres fitted.

The same lap also saw Button, who started on the soft tyre, change for the super-soft compound.

The end result was that several teams had to use up a set of soft tyres to guarantee a place in the second period.

In general terms, a softer tyre is likely to grip better and provide a higher cornering speed.

A late accident meant Vettel was able to switch to a set of soft tyres before the end anyway.