Button tops first practice at Monza
Jenson Button set the fastest time of the opening practice session at Monza, though there was little to choose between the pace of the McLaren and Red Bull
The reigning world champion's best time was under a tenth quicker than second-placed Sebastian Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton the only other driver in the 1m23s in third.
The 90-minute session was half over before anyone set a competitive time, as teams used the early running to compare different set-ups.
Toro Rosso tried its F-duct on a grand prix weekend for the first time, meaning that Lotus, Virgin and Hispania are now the only teams without the innovation.
McLaren began the session with a larger rear wing, similar to its Spa set-up, while Red Bull used its first runs to test the RB6's low downforce aero efficiency with high-visibility paint.
Hamilton was the first driver to set a representative time, though the target time was lowered several times before Button hit the top.
Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg were fourth and fifth quickest for Renault and Mercedes, while Mark Webber's Red Bull was sixth.
Vitantonio Liuzzi was next up for Force India, ahead of the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, with Michael Schumacher completing the top 10.
Nico Hulkenberg was 11th for Williams, while Paul di Resta showed well in 12th on his latest practice outing for Force India. Vitaly Petrov's Renault then headed the two Saubers and Toro Rossos.
Timo Glock was fastest of the new teams; his Virgin eight tenths off the back of Jaime Alguersuari and a tenth ahead of Jarno Trulli's Lotus and team-mate Lucas di Grassi.
Heikki Kovalainen lost a significant chunk of running when the hydraulics on his Lotus failed on his installation lap. He ended up 21st.
Bruno Senna's participation was also delayed after the Hispania team discovered a brake fluid leak on his car. He joined the session later but stopped out on track after just eight laps.
Rubens Barrichello was the session's other casualty when he parked up exiting the second Lesmo half way through with a loss of drive.
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 All Timing Unofficial
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments