Practice One: Button leads the way at Monza

Jenson Button proved that it's not just on paper that McLaren are expected to be quick at Monza, it's also on the track

McLaren arrived at Monza with many of their rivals expecting the Woking outfit to lead the charge, which is what Button did with his 1:23.693.

The reigning World Champ finished ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, although only just as the margin between the two was 0.097s. Lewis Hamilton was third quickest, a further two-tenths off the pace.

As for Ferrari, the home team in Italy, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were eighth and ninth quickest, the final two drivers to get within a second of Button's P1 time.

Michael Schumacher was tenth for Mercedes GP, 1.063s off the pace.

Report: Practice at Monza began with the track temperature sitting at 16'C as Sebastien Buemi got proceedings underway and was quickly followed out by the chasing pack as they completed their installation laps. Michael Schumacher set the first timed lap of the morning, a 1:31.396 for the Mercedes GP driver who almost collected Jaime Alguersuari as the Toro Rosso driver made his way out of the pits. Schumacher lowered the benchmark to a 1:28.150.

After a few minutes of silence, Schumacher ventured out again, this time clocking a 1:26.038 while Alguersuari claimed second place. However, both were dropped as Lewis Hamilton put in his first time, a 1:25.816 for the McLaren driver and his new high-downforce wing. Nico Hulkenberg put his Williams into fourth place before both himself and Alguersuari leapfrogged Schumacher up the order. Hamilton improved to a 1:24.990.

With more drivers heading out, Sebastian Vettel took second place, Nico Rosberg third, Kamui Kobayashi seventh, Mark Webber eight, Pedro de la Rosa ninth and Felipe Massa tenth. However, the timesheets were soon changing as Webber improved to third, Rosberg missed the optimum braking point for the Roggia chicane and Vettel closed the gap to Hamilton to just 0.001s. The German continued lapping, taking the P1 slot with a 1:24.450.

Rubens Barrichello became the first casualty of the session as his Williams FW32 lost drive, forcing him to stop on the side of the track at the exit of the second Lesmo.

Jenson Button joined the battle at the top of the timesheets, slotting into second place while Robert Kubica took fourth place before he was dropped one by Webber. Vettel lowered the benchmark time to a 1:23.872. Button overhauled Vettel at the top with a 1:23.756. Kubica moved up to third place ahead of Hamilton, Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Force India tester Paul di Resta, Webber, Massa and Hulkenberg.

With thirty minutes remaining in the session, Bruno Senna had yet to set a time, spending most of the session stuck in the pits with a brake problem while neither Lotus Racing driver had completed more than an early installation lap due to hydraulic problems.

Schumacher headed out again, moving up to seventh place. However, he dropped as Hulkenberg improved to sixth and Pedro de la Rosa to seventh. Senna finally clocked a time, taking 22nd place, while Heikki Kovalainen went 23rd, leaving just Jarno Trulli without a time to his name. However, he joined the pack, taking 20th place.

Alguersuari almost became the second casuality, however, was able to get his car out of the gravel at the Parabolica. Senna, though, did become the second as he stopped out on track just after the exit of the first chicane.

Practice One ended with Button in the P1 slot with a 1:23.693. Vettel was second, 0.097s slower than Button, while Hamilton was third.

Times:
01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.693 28 laps
02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:23.790 + 0.097 27 laps
03. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.967 + 0.274 25 laps
04. Kubica Renault 1:24.120 + 0.427 25 laps
05. Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.129 + 0.436 30 laps
06. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:24.446 + 0.753 26 laps
07. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:24.512 + 0.819 19 laps
08. Alonso Ferrari 1:24.543 + 0.850 24 laps
09. Massa Ferrari 1:24.648 + 0.955 22 laps
10. Schumacher Mercedes 1:24.756 + 1.063 26 laps
11. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:24.841 + 1.148 28 laps
12. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:24.923 + 1.230 23 laps
13. Petrov Renault 1:25.292 + 1.599 25 laps
14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.318 + 1.625 29 laps
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.320 + 1.627 20 laps
16. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.334 + 1.641 24 laps
17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.897 + 2.204 19 laps
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.772 + 3.079 19 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:26.898 + 3.205 12 laps
20. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.956 + 3.263 17 laps
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:27.374 + 3.681 14 laps
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:28.256 + 4.563 8 laps
23. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.516 + 4.823 4 laps
24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:29.870 + 6.177 17 laps

Source: Planet-F1