Hamilton tops opening Italian GP practice
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| Hamilton scorches Monza |
Lewis Hamilton, driving the superior Mercedes car topped the opening free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari's Alonso was second 0.035 seconds behind.
Alonso looked set to reclaim top spot three minutes later, setting the fastest times in both the first and second sector, only to run a little wide at the exit of the Parabolica, kicking up dust, and end up 35-thousandths of a second slower.
Nico Rosberg in the 2nd superior Mercedes was third ahead of championship leader Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull. Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top-5 in the new longer wheelbase Lotus.
Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Behind | Laps |
| 1. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m25.565s | +0.000s | 24 |
| 2. | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1m25.600s | +0.035s | 25 |
| 3. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m25.704s | +0.139s | 25 |
| 4. | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1m25.753s | +0.188s | 26 |
| 5. | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1m25.941s | +0.376s | 22 |
| 6. | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m26.007s | +0.442s | 24 |
| 7. | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m26.035s | +0.470s | 23 |
| 8. | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1m26.103s | +0.538s | 27 |
| 9. | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1m26.149s | +0.584s | 21 |
| 10. | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1m26.155s | +0.590s | 25 |
| 11. | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m26.194s | +0.629s | 25 |
| 12. | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1m26.295s | +0.730s | 23 |
| 13. | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1m26.387s | +0.822s | 21 |
| 14. | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1m26.449s | +0.884s | 16 |
| 15. | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1m26.594s | +1.029s | 13 |
| 16. | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1m26.802s | +1.237s | 21 |
| 17. | James Calado | Force India-Mercedes | 1m27.041s | +1.476s | 24 |
| 18. | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m27.224s | +1.659s | 16 |
| 19. | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1m27.818s | +2.253s | 24 |
| 20. | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1m27.869s | +2.304s | 20 |
| 21. | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1m28.192s | +2.627s | 21 |
| 22. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Marussia-Cosworth | 1m29.526s | +3.961s | 26 |