Hamilton and Vettel keep Ferrari off the top spot in Monza practice - Lewis leads the way in first practice, as Ferrari almost come a-cropper
Published by Christine
It was a desperately quiet first session in Monza, as practice for the Italian Grand Prix got underway. Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver out on track, whilst it was the turn of three Friday drivers behind the wheel, Rodolfo González for Marussia, Heikki Kovalainen at Caterham, and James Calado in his first stint as reserve driver for Force India.
Ferrari’s first session came to an awkward halt when Alonso stopped at the pit exit to complete a practice start, and Felipe Massa trundled up behind, only to have hit the brakes hard when the red light came on for session over. He had to leave the car where it was and walk back to the garages.
In the afternoon session, it was Sebastian Vettel who zipped straight to the top and he was there when the session ended as well, followed by teammate Mark Webber. There was a lot of running wide and missing apexes as drivers pushed to find the limit of the track, Kimi Räikkönen in particular had two high speed moments, kicking up some dust. He still finished third, with Romain Grosjean fourth, the pair setting the exact same time.
