Free Practice 1 and 2 were bathed in sunshine as the cars drove round the track, gathering data and trying to set the fastest time.
Fridays session's saw Red Bull and Mclaren dominate the time sheets with Ferrari not far off too.
After the 13th round at Monza the drivers and teams will wave goodbye to Europe as the teams jet off around the globe for the fly away races.
Read the reports of both Practice sessions below..
FP1
Free Practice 1 began basking in the Italian morning sunshine as temperatures began to rise. Both Team Lotus drivers, Heikki Kovalianen and Karun Chandhok, opened the session and were followed out by the Torro Rosso's, Virgins and HRT's.
Lap times did not begin to be set until around 15 minutes in as all the drivers did their mandatory out laps to gather data and help fine tune the set up at the tricky circuit.
The times opened up with Jerome D'Ambrosio on a rather empty track, as many drivers discussed set up and down force levels with their engineers after the installation laps. He was later replaced on track by Jenson Button who took advantage of the open track but pulled into the garage after 2 laps.
With 25 minutes gone it was still D'Ambrosio's lone Virgin at the front, in a rather quiet session.
By the end of it, Lewis Hamilton was fastest with a massive 9-tenth gap to his team mate Jenson Button. Mclaren showed dominance even more as Jenson Button was half a second faster than championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton's lap was a 1m.23.865 with Button on a 1m.24.786 and both Red Bulls behind in the 1m25's respectively.
Behind Sebastian Vettel was his team mate Mark Webber, just 2 tenths back, with Adrian Sutil an impressive 5th. However he was over a second slower than both Red Bulls.
It may of looked like a wide spread field from the results in the top 5, but from Sutil on a 1m.26.550 to Kobayashi in 14th was just 4 tenths of a second.
Within that 4 tenths came Vitaly Petrov's Lotus Renault Gp in 6th, with Fernando Alonso just 2 hundredths of a second back in 7th, with a rather low key debut session. He was followed by just 3 hundredths by team mate Massa with Sergio Perez behind.
Rounding out the top 10 in 10th was Jaime Alguesuari. Michael Schumacher showcased Mercedes lack of FP1 pace by finishing the session 11th, with team-mate Nico Rosberg down in 18th. Between them came Nico Hulkenbery replacing Paul Di Resta for FP1, Rubens Barrichello and Kamui Kobayashi with Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna and Sebastian Buemi along with Rosberg in the 1m.27's.
Top of the new teams came Heikki Kovalainen with FP1 only team mate Karun Chandhok in 20th with both HRT's, in the order of Ricciardo and Luizzi, ahead of both Virgin Racings with Jerome D'Ambrosio last on a 1m.31.899 with a gap of 8 seconds seperating positions 1-24.
The fastest speed recorded through the speed trap at the end of the long start/finish straight was 347 km/h (215mph) by Petrov, indicating that there is little wrong with the top-end power of the Renault RS27 engine.
Notable Incidents came from Buemi spinning into the gravel at Parabolica as well as Schumacher experiencing the Monza gravel at the same corner, but both drivers managed to drive out of the gravel trap damage free.
The cars looked very skittish in low down force set up with a number of drivers venturing off into the run off and gravel, but no major incidents or crashes occurred.
Mechanical problems became a problem for Team Lotus with
Lotus’s ‘Karun Chandhok having rotten luck yet again as he experienced problems with the systems on his steering wheel early in the session, but the Indian did eventually get 19 laps in along with a brief spin. His team mate Kovalainen experience gear box problems, stopping on track with the 1 hour mark just gone.
Both Virgins also experienced glitches with Jerome D'Ambrosio stopping on track with an engine failure towards the end of the session, with Glock also experiencing sensor glitches resorting to slow runs and hanging out in the pit lane.
The question on every ones mind is, can Mclaren challenge Red Bull?
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
Fridays session's saw Red Bull and Mclaren dominate the time sheets with Ferrari not far off too.
After the 13th round at Monza the drivers and teams will wave goodbye to Europe as the teams jet off around the globe for the fly away races.
Read the reports of both Practice sessions below..
FP1
Free Practice 1 began basking in the Italian morning sunshine as temperatures began to rise. Both Team Lotus drivers, Heikki Kovalianen and Karun Chandhok, opened the session and were followed out by the Torro Rosso's, Virgins and HRT's.
Lap times did not begin to be set until around 15 minutes in as all the drivers did their mandatory out laps to gather data and help fine tune the set up at the tricky circuit.
The times opened up with Jerome D'Ambrosio on a rather empty track, as many drivers discussed set up and down force levels with their engineers after the installation laps. He was later replaced on track by Jenson Button who took advantage of the open track but pulled into the garage after 2 laps.
With 25 minutes gone it was still D'Ambrosio's lone Virgin at the front, in a rather quiet session.
By the end of it, Lewis Hamilton was fastest with a massive 9-tenth gap to his team mate Jenson Button. Mclaren showed dominance even more as Jenson Button was half a second faster than championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton's lap was a 1m.23.865 with Button on a 1m.24.786 and both Red Bulls behind in the 1m25's respectively.
Behind Sebastian Vettel was his team mate Mark Webber, just 2 tenths back, with Adrian Sutil an impressive 5th. However he was over a second slower than both Red Bulls.
It may of looked like a wide spread field from the results in the top 5, but from Sutil on a 1m.26.550 to Kobayashi in 14th was just 4 tenths of a second.
Within that 4 tenths came Vitaly Petrov's Lotus Renault Gp in 6th, with Fernando Alonso just 2 hundredths of a second back in 7th, with a rather low key debut session. He was followed by just 3 hundredths by team mate Massa with Sergio Perez behind.
Rounding out the top 10 in 10th was Jaime Alguesuari. Michael Schumacher showcased Mercedes lack of FP1 pace by finishing the session 11th, with team-mate Nico Rosberg down in 18th. Between them came Nico Hulkenbery replacing Paul Di Resta for FP1, Rubens Barrichello and Kamui Kobayashi with Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna and Sebastian Buemi along with Rosberg in the 1m.27's.
Top of the new teams came Heikki Kovalainen with FP1 only team mate Karun Chandhok in 20th with both HRT's, in the order of Ricciardo and Luizzi, ahead of both Virgin Racings with Jerome D'Ambrosio last on a 1m.31.899 with a gap of 8 seconds seperating positions 1-24.
The fastest speed recorded through the speed trap at the end of the long start/finish straight was 347 km/h (215mph) by Petrov, indicating that there is little wrong with the top-end power of the Renault RS27 engine.
Notable Incidents came from Buemi spinning into the gravel at Parabolica as well as Schumacher experiencing the Monza gravel at the same corner, but both drivers managed to drive out of the gravel trap damage free.
The cars looked very skittish in low down force set up with a number of drivers venturing off into the run off and gravel, but no major incidents or crashes occurred.
Mechanical problems became a problem for Team Lotus with
Lotus’s ‘Karun Chandhok having rotten luck yet again as he experienced problems with the systems on his steering wheel early in the session, but the Indian did eventually get 19 laps in along with a brief spin. His team mate Kovalainen experience gear box problems, stopping on track with the 1 hour mark just gone.
Both Virgins also experienced glitches with Jerome D'Ambrosio stopping on track with an engine failure towards the end of the session, with Glock also experiencing sensor glitches resorting to slow runs and hanging out in the pit lane.
The question on every ones mind is, can Mclaren challenge Red Bull?
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.865s 18
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.786s + 0.921 19
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.231s + 1.366 25
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.459s + 1.594 24
5. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m26.550s + 2.685 23
6. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m26.625s + 2.760 20
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m26.647s + 2.782 20
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m26.676s + 2.811 24
9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.694s + 2.829 28
10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.696s + 2.831 15
11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.699s + 2.834 21
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m26.826s + 2.961 21
13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m26.836s + 2.971 25
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.996s + 3.131 29
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m27.365s + 3.500 25
16. Bruno Senna Renault 1m27.385s + 3.520 23
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.433s + 3.568 25
18. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m27.492s + 3.627 24
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m29.539s + 5.674 10
20. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m30.148s + 6.283 19
21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m30.609s + 6.744 27
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m30.619s + 6.754 24
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.052s + 7.187 12
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.899s + 8.034 22
FP2
Second Practice on Friday afternoon was yet again under sunny Sky's, with an increase in temperature driving teams and drivers out onto the track.
Red Bull were on a mission to prove they are not out of the running in Monza, with Sebastian Vettel topping the times sheets as the chequered flag came out.
As the green light came on for the 1 hour 30 minute session to begin, the mid field and back markers emerged from the garages to test the limit of the track with the increase in heat. Teams were eager to get more running is with conditions looking similar to race day.
Strangely, despite the increase in heat for the second session of the day, no drivers were able to beat Hamilton's FP1 time of 1m.23.865.
Jamie Alguesuari opened the time sheets with a 1m.28.705 with Perez and Kovalianen slotting behind
Petrov soon stole Alguesuari's thunder going over 1 and a half seconds in front.
Mclaren's Jenson Button dipped under the 1m.26's for the first time in the session, but soon became demoted by Vettel and a few more top rivals.
The incidents did not take long to begin with Sebastian Buemi hitting the wall at Parabolica with just 9 minutes gone, the same corner he spun at in FP1. It was a terminal thing with Buemi having to travel back to the pit lane, to sit and watch.
Just a few minutes earlier, coincidentally, his team mate Jamie Alguesuari had a different incident as he tried to pass a Force India along the main straight, only to be pushed onto the grass in confusion.
Times began to tumble as the track evolved, with Vettel, Schumacher and Hamilton all trading fastest lap times before the times slowed again. For the last 20 minutes it was obvious to see that race performance has became the priority, with lap times ranging from in the 1m.27/28's for the Red Bull and Mclaren duo's.
That left Vettel at the top on a 1m.24.010 still around 2 tenths slower than Hamiltons FP1 time. Speaking of Hamilton, he was 2nd on a 1m.24.046 just 0.036 seconds back.
They finished the session ahead of Michael Schumacer. This was surprising compared to his first practice session pace as he showed Mercedes did have the pace. He finished ahead of both Ferrari's, in the order of Massa 4th and Alonso 5th, with Webber 6th and Button 7th respectively.
The top 7 were separated by just half a second as the chequered flag came out. Sergio Perez was the first driver in the 1m.25's in 8th half a second behind the Mclaren of Jenson Button, with his team mate Kobayashi behind in 9th.
Inter-team battle for 10th place was settled in the Lotus Renault Gp camp with Bruno Senna on his second FP2 session just slipping into the top 10. His team mate Petrov was just 1 tenth back, with Adrian Sutil 12th less than half a tenth back.
Paul Di Resta finished 13th, hoping not to be unlucky, behind his team mate with Alguesuari and the two Williams drivers of Barrichello and Maldonado following close by.
Sebastian Buemi still finished the session 17th despite not participating in 1 hour 21 minutes of the session, as he still managed to be 2 tenths ahead of Jarno Trulli winning the inter house new team squabble. He was ahead of team mate Kovalianen as they led Glock, Luizzi, Rosberg, D'Ambrosio and Ricciardo home.
Rosberg had set a 29 laps, but was suffering a problem throughout the session leading to his slow times. Ricciardo also had problems with electrics meaning he only managed 2 laps by the half way mark, but with the problem fixed in the closing stages he managed an extra 5 laps.
Now the focus changes, as Ferrari and Red Bull step up to the plate.
Dont forget to Follow me on twitter @JackLeslieF1
and keep checking back over the weekend for my Saturday and Sunday reviews.
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.786s + 0.921 19
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.231s + 1.366 25
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.459s + 1.594 24
5. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m26.550s + 2.685 23
6. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m26.625s + 2.760 20
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m26.647s + 2.782 20
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m26.676s + 2.811 24
9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.694s + 2.829 28
10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.696s + 2.831 15
11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.699s + 2.834 21
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m26.826s + 2.961 21
13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m26.836s + 2.971 25
14. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.996s + 3.131 29
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m27.365s + 3.500 25
16. Bruno Senna Renault 1m27.385s + 3.520 23
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.433s + 3.568 25
18. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m27.492s + 3.627 24
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m29.539s + 5.674 10
20. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m30.148s + 6.283 19
21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m30.609s + 6.744 27
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m30.619s + 6.754 24
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.052s + 7.187 12
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.899s + 8.034 22
FP2
Second Practice on Friday afternoon was yet again under sunny Sky's, with an increase in temperature driving teams and drivers out onto the track.
Red Bull were on a mission to prove they are not out of the running in Monza, with Sebastian Vettel topping the times sheets as the chequered flag came out.
As the green light came on for the 1 hour 30 minute session to begin, the mid field and back markers emerged from the garages to test the limit of the track with the increase in heat. Teams were eager to get more running is with conditions looking similar to race day.
Strangely, despite the increase in heat for the second session of the day, no drivers were able to beat Hamilton's FP1 time of 1m.23.865.
Jamie Alguesuari opened the time sheets with a 1m.28.705 with Perez and Kovalianen slotting behind
Petrov soon stole Alguesuari's thunder going over 1 and a half seconds in front.
Mclaren's Jenson Button dipped under the 1m.26's for the first time in the session, but soon became demoted by Vettel and a few more top rivals.
The incidents did not take long to begin with Sebastian Buemi hitting the wall at Parabolica with just 9 minutes gone, the same corner he spun at in FP1. It was a terminal thing with Buemi having to travel back to the pit lane, to sit and watch.
Just a few minutes earlier, coincidentally, his team mate Jamie Alguesuari had a different incident as he tried to pass a Force India along the main straight, only to be pushed onto the grass in confusion.
Times began to tumble as the track evolved, with Vettel, Schumacher and Hamilton all trading fastest lap times before the times slowed again. For the last 20 minutes it was obvious to see that race performance has became the priority, with lap times ranging from in the 1m.27/28's for the Red Bull and Mclaren duo's.
That left Vettel at the top on a 1m.24.010 still around 2 tenths slower than Hamiltons FP1 time. Speaking of Hamilton, he was 2nd on a 1m.24.046 just 0.036 seconds back.
They finished the session ahead of Michael Schumacer. This was surprising compared to his first practice session pace as he showed Mercedes did have the pace. He finished ahead of both Ferrari's, in the order of Massa 4th and Alonso 5th, with Webber 6th and Button 7th respectively.
The top 7 were separated by just half a second as the chequered flag came out. Sergio Perez was the first driver in the 1m.25's in 8th half a second behind the Mclaren of Jenson Button, with his team mate Kobayashi behind in 9th.
Inter-team battle for 10th place was settled in the Lotus Renault Gp camp with Bruno Senna on his second FP2 session just slipping into the top 10. His team mate Petrov was just 1 tenth back, with Adrian Sutil 12th less than half a tenth back.
Paul Di Resta finished 13th, hoping not to be unlucky, behind his team mate with Alguesuari and the two Williams drivers of Barrichello and Maldonado following close by.
Sebastian Buemi still finished the session 17th despite not participating in 1 hour 21 minutes of the session, as he still managed to be 2 tenths ahead of Jarno Trulli winning the inter house new team squabble. He was ahead of team mate Kovalianen as they led Glock, Luizzi, Rosberg, D'Ambrosio and Ricciardo home.
Rosberg had set a 29 laps, but was suffering a problem throughout the session leading to his slow times. Ricciardo also had problems with electrics meaning he only managed 2 laps by the half way mark, but with the problem fixed in the closing stages he managed an extra 5 laps.
Now the focus changes, as Ferrari and Red Bull step up to the plate.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.010s 37
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.046s + 0.036 21
3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.347s + 0.337 39
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m24.366s + 0.356 33
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.433s + 0.423 31
6. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m24.468s + 0.458 32
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.508s + 0.498 30
8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.097s + 1.087 39
9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.182s + 1.172 37
10. Bruno Senna Renault 1m25.325s + 1.315 38
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m25.450s + 1.440 31
12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m25.496s + 1.486 39
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m25.683s + 1.673 37
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.758s + 1.748 29
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m26.202s + 2.192 36
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m26.353s + 2.343 40
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.347s + 4.337 5
18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m28.559s + 4.549 32
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m28.605s + 4.595 32
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.804s + 4.794 25
21. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m29.162s + 5.152 34
22. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m29.184s + 5.174 29
23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m29.622s + 5.612 34
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m29.841s + 5.831 7
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.046s + 0.036 21
3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.347s + 0.337 39
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m24.366s + 0.356 33
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.433s + 0.423 31
6. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m24.468s + 0.458 32
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.508s + 0.498 30
8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.097s + 1.087 39
9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.182s + 1.172 37
10. Bruno Senna Renault 1m25.325s + 1.315 38
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m25.450s + 1.440 31
12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m25.496s + 1.486 39
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m25.683s + 1.673 37
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.758s + 1.748 29
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m26.202s + 2.192 36
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m26.353s + 2.343 40
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.347s + 4.337 5
18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m28.559s + 4.549 32
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m28.605s + 4.595 32
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.804s + 4.794 25
21. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m29.162s + 5.152 34
22. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m29.184s + 5.174 29
23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m29.622s + 5.612 34
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m29.841s + 5.831 7
Dont forget to Follow me on twitter @JackLeslieF1
and keep checking back over the weekend for my Saturday and Sunday reviews.
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