McLaren headed the first practice times by a full second in Monza.
Lewis Hamilton ended the session quickest ahead of Jenson Button, with Sebastian Vettel 1.3 seconds behind in third.
The session got off to a quiet start with only Jerome d’Ambrosio and Daniel Ricciardo setting times in the first half hour.
Jaime Alguersuari briefly headed the times before Vettel took over at the top with a 1’26.381.
Vettel improved his time by half a second over the following laps before Hamilton set a 1’25.203 to displace him at the top of the times.
Hamilton showed considerable pace, improving his best time to a 1’24.512, over a second quicker than either of the Red Bulls. Button moved up to second, around nine-tenths off Hamilton.
Towards the end of the session Vettel improved his time and split the two McLarens. However Button took the place back with five minutes to go and Hamilton signed off with the fastest lap of the session, a 1’23.865.
Adrian Sutil moved up to fifth ahead of Vitaly Petrov with his last lap. The Renault driver was fastest in a straight line, hitting 347kph in the speed trap.
That pushed Fernando Alonso down to seventh, 2.7 seconds off Hamilton, with Felipe Massa fractionally slower.
Sergio Perez and Jaime Alguersuari completed the top ten.
Lotus had a problematic start to the weekend: Karun Chandhok, driving Jarno Trulli’s car, came into the pits complaining the controls on his wheel weren’t working.
Later on Heikki Kovalainen came to a stop at Lesmo 1 after getting stuck in second gear.
Jerome d’Ambrosio also hit trouble in his Virgin, stopping with smoke coming from the back of the car at the Rettifilio. Team mate Timo Glock was delayed by a sensor problem.
2011 Italian Grand Prix
Image © McLaren
Jake (@jleigh)
9th September 2011, 10:38
very early to read anything…but Lewis looks like he’s on a bit of a mission this weekend
mark p
9th September 2011, 10:53
Agreed, maybe this will be one of his great races he has every 3 or 4 races.
JustAnF1Fanatic
9th September 2011, 11:22
Or a race where he overdirves his car, and overdrives to prove himself,
but two wrongs make a right…
wait
JustAnF1Fanatic
9th September 2011, 11:23
not a hater btw, Hes my favourite driver
BasCB (@bascb)
9th September 2011, 12:15
I think that was exactly what happened last year, wasn’t it?
lewymp4 (@lewymp4)
9th September 2011, 17:39
Maybe if Hamilton had a rocket like the RB7, he wouldn’t have to at times, push so hard. Lewis hasn’t won at Monza as of yet, but this sunday it looks that it might be in the cards for him.
John H
9th September 2011, 10:41
Ferrari 2.7 seconds off the pace. Even though it’s FP1, that is absolutely huge. Luca won’t be happy.
AdrianMorse
9th September 2011, 10:42
It looked like McLaren were running quite a lot of wing; hope that won’t throw them back in the race. Mercedes were quite disappointing. I did see them opening their DRS regularly, so I don’t think they were completely driving in race trim.
Harry Palmer
9th September 2011, 11:52
They said on Autosport’s live feed that they were doing heavy fuel runs so I wouldn’t be overly concerned and it’s hard to read too much into FP1 as the teams are trying out different settings and fuel-loads etc (as well as the track being pretty green)
Tango
9th September 2011, 10:43
High wing degree and DRS use during FP1 by Mc Laren?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
9th September 2011, 10:50
Or maybe they just have a lot of pace.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
9th September 2011, 11:43
I think there’s a sweet spot to be had that will give an optimum overall lap time. Traditionally you run skinnier wings so you’re not a sitting duck and so you can overtake but DRS has nullified the latter this year and if your pace is good enough through the corners your straight-line speed deficit won’t be an issue. Smart thinking.
bosyber (@bosyber)
9th September 2011, 12:20
Sort of the RBR philosophy, isn’t it? It worked for them for about three years at least; now Red Bull are getting caught a bit they are working to reduce their drag, but McLaren might have less of that too.
Mike
9th September 2011, 14:21
If you are ahead you can’t use DRS. If anything this year you are much more of a sitting duck.
Coop
9th September 2011, 10:44
It is very early to be looking into it but Lewis does look like he is in good form, and the McLaren does look to be fast even though there has been speculation around their rear wing! I am very excited to see how the rest of the weekend unfolds.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
9th September 2011, 10:50
It’s only FP1. I’m not getting carried away.
Nice to see Petrov on the pace, though. I’ve noticed his best performances always seem come when he’s been switched on right from the start.
Tom
9th September 2011, 10:52
The 107% rule will be interesting this weekend.
Stephen Hopkinson
9th September 2011, 10:54
I’ve never understood why Hamilton hasn’t had better results at Monza – it seems to be perfect for him, all low speed corners and braking zones, plus his McLaren usually has a decent straight line advantage. Maybe this year he can put things right – he’s overdue for a good result!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th September 2011, 11:08
Well he lost a chance of a result on the first lap last year – with the quicker McLaren in a straight line he’d’ve been in the hunt for victory. And he threw a podium away in 2009.
He was flying in 2008 when the track was drying but he’d left himself with too much to do after qualifying. In 2007 Alonso beat him in a straight fight but he did put an excellent pass on Raikkonen.
I think he’s due a result here and on the strength of what little we’ve seen so far he seems a very good tip.
Jake (@jleigh)
9th September 2011, 11:35
Well said Keith, if you analyse his performances more closely, he’s actually shown good pace in Italy but has suffered both bad luck and bad decisions. If i remember correctly he was only a short shower away from winning in 08.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th September 2011, 11:42
You can’t blame the weather for not doing something you want it to and then say it cost you a win. The conditions are the same for everyone.
Jake (@jleigh)
9th September 2011, 11:56
of course you’re right, I was merely pointing out that he had much better pace than the result (7th) showed and it was due to the weather that he wasn’t able to carry out his planned strategy (1 stop) where as those ahead could. Obviously that’s just the way it is and if he hadn’t mucked up qualifying he wouldn’t have had that problem so in no way am I saying he deserved a win, just answering the OP’s question as to why Lewis appears to have such a bad record at Monza.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
9th September 2011, 11:59
No, you’ve got it back to front. He had the wrong strategy for the weather.
Jake (@jleigh)
9th September 2011, 12:07
but of course no one knew that when the strategies were chosen, so there is very much an element of luck. Surely you can accept my general point that the result of 7th doesn’t tell the whole story of Lewis’ race in 08? which in some way goes towards answering the OP’s question about Lewis’ apparent poor record at a circuit that you would think should suit him.
Christian
9th September 2011, 12:05
Never really got the ‘excellent’ pass on Raikkonen. Wasn’t it just a standard pass into the first chicane? Albeit, it was at the height of Hamiltonmania on ITV..
Jake (@jleigh)
9th September 2011, 12:11
It’s generally considered an excellent pass because of the distance from which he came. No one really thought the move was on from there, hence the camera’s didn’t even bother looking at it!
Dan Selby
9th September 2011, 12:13
I remember it – it WAS a very ballsy move.
I remember him being way too far back to even think about it. Then, in a split second, low and behold…
Check it out again. It’s not Hamiltonmania, it’s just a brilliant pass.
matt90 (@matt90)
9th September 2011, 12:14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzFDvZhntvQ
I’d say it was pretty impressive.
David BR
9th September 2011, 11:10
Wish Lewis would concentrate on his driving more.
Will
9th September 2011, 11:15
Yeah, always fiddling with the stereo and messing with the sat nav… menace.
timi
9th September 2011, 11:18
hahaa
badger (@badger)
9th September 2011, 11:26
Comment of the day :-)
gwenouille (@gwenouille)
9th September 2011, 12:52
It gets my vote too.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th September 2011, 12:19
:-D
Dan Selby
9th September 2011, 12:13
Yeh he should be 20 seconds ahead in Free Practice, instead..!
??
David BR
9th September 2011, 14:31
Maybe should have been written with a ;) !
ali9evo (@ali9evo)
9th September 2011, 21:30
Best comment of the day!
antonyob
9th September 2011, 11:27
well top to tale its only 4.5% or so difference so 107% rule surely wont come anywhere near a worry.
This is redbulls worst track and they are still miles better than ferrari. barring slew-ie lewis doing a lewis its his to lose already!
MJ4
9th September 2011, 11:46
4.5% – depends on what you consider “tail”…
antonyob
9th September 2011, 11:53
tail – last placed driver
the tracks green for everyone!
bananarama
9th September 2011, 12:15
1:29,736 is the 107% time. Now reconsider your comment please :-P
Fixy (@)
9th September 2011, 15:42
In Q1 the smaller teams will have tyre advantage – softs vs. hards. They can get closer.
Fixy (@)
9th September 2011, 15:40
I guess he was pointing to your typo: “tale” rather than “tail” ;)
Meander (@meander)
9th September 2011, 12:02
Is HRT now faster than Virgin?!
BasCB (@bascb)
9th September 2011, 12:21
No, as written above by Keith, Virgin had trouble with both:
Fixy (@)
9th September 2011, 15:43
Just Liuzzi being normal again ;)
JK
9th September 2011, 12:06
Smart move on the wings I think for the McLaren boys, Hamilton is “on it like a car bonnet” this weekend. A string of results he hadn’t hoped for and some rotten luck (or not depends of your standpoint).
I think we could see something a bit special @Monza on Sunday :)The top 3 teams will surely provide an intense battle all weekend!
JK
9th September 2011, 12:36
Chandok was looking marginally quicker by the end than he usually does.
kosmic
9th September 2011, 12:44
Filippi in gp2 only just over a tenth behind the D’Ambrosio who whilst hit trouble still managed 22 laps , hmmmmmm
Young One
9th September 2011, 14:02
Too little too late even if he wins the race.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
10th September 2011, 1:47
I wasn’t expecting Renault to be the fastest car in the speed trap.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
10th September 2011, 8:35
We were late to the circuit by about 30 mins but seems we didn’t miss much.
Finally got to hear the front-blowing exhaust on the R31. Worth it!