Jenson Button leads the way after the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion drove superbly to head the timesheets by just under one tenth of a second. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was a surprising second as the young German split the McLaren drivers. The Red Bull was expected to struggle but on the basis of opening practice they may be closer to the front than initially expected.
The aerodynamic setup of the McLarens may have clouded this session considerably, specifically the pace of the Red Bull’s. Button and Lewis Hamilton, who ended the session third, both ran their cars with a considerably greater amount of downforce than has come to be expected at Monza. The team were able to do this due to running their F-Duct, a system that they had publically said they were unsure of the advantages of at Monza.
After the first session it is clear the benefit of the system with the McLaren drivers able to brake much deeper into corners, they were however slower through the speed traps than the Red Bulls. In this afternoon’s second session it can be expected that the team will try a different aerodynamic profile, a lower downforce configuration, and examine which system offers the greater benefit.
Behind the first three was the ever impressive Robert Kubica. The Renault driver is once more very confident of a strong showing this weekend and has always excelled at this track, and this race should allow the Renault to showcase its recent strong development. At the Belgium Grand Prix the team showcased their own F-Duct for the first time and Kubica was consistently fast throughout the weekend and very impressive through the speed traps. The Polish driver will be expectant of another strong showing this weekend and will be looking to add to his 2006 and 2008 podium finishes at this track.
It was not so rosy on the other side of the Renault garage with Vitaly Petrov struggling and ending the session thirteenth, 1.2 seconds adrift of his teammate. This is a crucial race for drivers such as Petrov who are under pressure from their team to continue performing so as to ensure a race seat for 2011. Vitantonio Liuzzi is another driver under pressure. The Italian has flattered to deceive throughout his time in Formula 1 and his Force India team are clearly looking for improvement from him. Force India once more had Paul di Resta driving during the opening session and the young Scot, fresh from a dominant DTM race win at Brands Hatch, has performed well throughout the season and is pushing Liuzzi for a race seat next season. With the pressure of di Resta and a home race Liuzzi did well to end the session in seventh, 0.4 seconds ahead of his teammate and rival.
Ferrari was, as always at Monza, the centre of attention. The team came into this weekend fresh from the World Motorsport Council meeting that vindicated their team orders from the German Grand Prix and while rival teams scoffed at the ruling, along with the FIA, that the team had been found not guilty by the WMSC of not breaching team orders it was clear that the Scuderia have bigger problems than their paddock popularity. Fernando Alonso was once more faster than Felipe Massa but the pair was only eighth and ninth fastest. The home fans are expectant as usual this weekend but this performance will have done little to give them reason to feel that a record setting 18th win at Monza will occur this weekend.
Mercedes engines have won six Italian Grand Prix and while the power plants in the back of the McLaren’s offer the Stuttgart manufacturer an opportunity to make it a magnificent seven the works team look set to have another tough weekend. Nico Rosberg, aided by a light fuel load, ended the first session in fifth position but the team was once more disappointed with their performance. Michael Schumacher managed to hang onto a top ten time in the session but the seven times world champion was over a second adrift of Button.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.693 28 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:23.790 + 0.097 27 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.967 + 0.274 25 4. Kubica Renault 1:24.120 + 0.427 25 5. Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.129 + 0.436 30 6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:24.446 + 0.753 26 7. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:24.512 + 0.819 19 8. Alonso Ferrari 1:24.543 + 0.850 24 9. Massa Ferrari 1:24.648 + 0.955 22 10. Schumacher Mercedes 1:24.756 + 1.063 26 11. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:24.841 + 1.148 28 12. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:24.923 + 1.230 23 13. Petrov Renault 1:25.292 + 1.599 25 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.318 + 1.625 29 15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.320 + 1.627 20 16. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.334 + 1.641 24 17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.897 + 2.204 19 18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.772 + 3.079 19 19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:26.898 + 3.205 12 20. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.956 + 3.263 17 21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:27.374 + 3.681 14 22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:28.256 + 4.563 8 23. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.516 + 4.823 4 24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:29.870 + 6.177 17
The second practice session will begin at 1 pm Irish time.
