US Grand Prix qualifying REPORT: Lewis Hamilton is denied pole in rain-soaked Austin by team-mate Nico Rosberg

That's all from me, for now...

Join us again for the race this evening!

Well, it did look too wet. We will take the grid positions from Q2, so that's Nico Rosberg on pole, with Lewis Hamilton behind him.

GRID POSITIONS (after penalties)

1) Rosberg

2) Hamilton

3) Ricciardo

4) Kvyat

5) Perez

6) Hulkenberg

7) Massa

8) Verstappen

9) Massa

10) Bottas

'Stop stop stop, stop stop stop...stop stop stop, stop stop stop.' Clear enough for you?

Mercedes' hurriedly call Hamilton and Rosberg back, having released them just as the session delay was announced.

Not these delays again. At least it's not 30 minutes! More rain falling in Austin.

Bottom five stays the same. Kvyat even claims it's dangerous out there.

11) Alonso

12) Bottas

13) Grosjean

14) Button

15) Maldonado

No times are being improved out there either in these conditions. Will we even get out for Q3? Two minutes remaining in this session.

With five minutes remaining, the current bottom five are Alonso, Bottas, Grosjean, Button and Maldonado.

Raikkonen and Hamilton meanwhile have just spun out, full 360s.

Considering their season so far getting into Q3 would be quite an achievement, but that will be a struggle again today for McLaren duo Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Rain is now starting to get worse, too...

Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel momentarily top the timesheets but here come the Mercedes lads. Rosberg top, Hamilton second, around two seconds quicker than the Ferraris.

And the track is improving with so many cars out at the moment.

He survives... just. Vettel finishes in 15th, as Ricciardo goes quickest overall once again, ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg.

BOTTOM FIVE KNOCKED OUT IN Q1

16) Ericsson

17) Nasr

18) Rossi

19) Stevens

20) Sainz

Sebastian Vettel in trouble! The German is in the pits after making contact with the wall and is slipping down the leaderboard.

Ricciardo now quickest! Rosberg had taken the lead but Red Bull's Aussie blows the Mercedes duo away with that one.

Of course, what's more important right now is the bottom five...

Few faster times being set now. Nico Rosberg gets a lap in, while Lewis Hamilton sets a whopping 1:58.025, almost two seconds faster than his team-mate.

Daniel Ricciardo is up to second however, just a tenth behind Hamilton.

'We're expecting heavier rain in two minutes,' Hamilton's engineer tells the Brit.

'The track is pretty mental already,' Lewis replies.

Lot of water splashing up from the tails here, with the rain still rather heavy in Austin.

Two crashes in two races for young Sainz, with his father watching on. Certainly not as big as shunt as we saw in Sochi, but worrying for the Spaniard nonetheless.

The session has been halted by a red flag after Spanish driver Carlos Sainz crashed. 

Hamilton has, unsurprisingly, recorded the fastest lap with a time of  1:59.393 - the only lap time under two minutes from any of the drivers on the circuit

Hamilton has headed out onto the circuit in his Silver Arrow Mercedes, while conditions have been described as 'on the limit'.

Visibility is poor with noticeable more spray than there was yesterday.

Mercedes have told Hamilton 'Get a lap on the board as soon as possible'

Because of puddles still on the track, the race controller has just confirmed that intermediate tyres may not be used on the first qualifying circuit, meaning that cars will have to use their full wet weather tyres.

Conditions are expected to improve, if only slightly, for the race itself.

Hamilton appeared unfussed while waiting in the rain yesterday and apparently spent an equally relaxing evening - celebrating his pet bulldog Roscoe's birthday.

The reigning F1 champions shared a video clip on his Twitter account of the celebrations - featuring Roscoe wearing a party hat while having his cake... and eating it!

Hamilton needs to beat his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by two points and former world champions Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari by nine points to claim his third world title this weekend.

If Hamilton triumphs, he will become only the second British driver - behind Sir Jackie Stewart - to win three driver's championships.

Ferrari drivers Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will be demoted 10 places on the grid from their qualifying positions because of penalties for using more than the permitted number of engines this season.

Good afternoon and welcome to Sportsmail's coverage of the United States Grand Prix, which could see Lewis Hamilton become the first British driver to win successive world championship titles.

With torrential weather conditions forcing the postponement of Saturday's qualifying, we will be covering the qualifying rounds, which are scheduled to begin at 2pm (GMT), ahead of the race at 7pm.

Hamilton was the fastest in the final practice session yesterday, but heavy rain in Austin, Texas - a consequence of tropical storm Patricia - meant that cars were unable to run in the afternoon.

More rain has been forecast for today, although it's not expected to be as intense.

We have been waiting for the inevitable and now we have the confirmation. Qualifying will instead be tomorrow at 2PM (GMT).

Sorry for the lack of action! But we'll be here again tomorrow...

Even the safety cars were struggling with the rain at 5mph. I think we know what's coming here...

Speaking on TV, Matteo Bonciani - F1 Head of Communications at the FIA - says they will wait for another hour to see if they can squeeze any running in.

Niki Lauda and Nico Rosberg are out playing football. That's about it!

9pm is our next slot. Rain still not stopping. Sigh.

If the weather does not get any better, the FIA are willing to wait until 10pm UK time. It could be a long evening.

'It's a real shame for the fans, but you can't mess with mother nature.'

Trying to provide at least some entertainment for the fans, some of the drivers are out dancing in the pit-lane. Other than that, not much to report here, folks.

Qualifying has been delayed by another 30 minutes, here. We're now aiming for an 8.30pm start but again, I find that unlikely.

Yep, the rain is still hammering down. The drivers don't seem to think this is getting underway in 20 minutes, either...

Oh dear. 8pm the new proposed start time. Remember, if there is no qualifying today, the plan is to come back tomorrow.

Felipe Massa: 'If we go out, it has to be safe. It was impossible to be on the track earlier [FP3]

Christian Horner has been on Sky Sports protesting that everyone should go home, and come back tomorrow for qualifying in the morning.

It's hard to disagree with him with the wind still this strong. And that's not to mention the torrential rain.

Hello and welcome to Sportsmail's coverage to qualifying from the US Grand Prix.

With the conditions still absolutely awful in Austin, the session has been pushed back by half an hour to 7.30pm (BST). But with the rain still pelting down, I would not be surprised if they called it off for the day...

Still, stay with us for all the updates.