The LHCb vertex locator

The silicon microstrip vertex locator (VELO) is the subdetector closest to the interaction region of the LHCb experiment which is presently under construction at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It provides precise tracking information to identify b- and c-hadrons which are of key interest for LHCb. In the following the design and the present status of the VELO are presented as well as an outlook on the expected performance.