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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

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