Button sets early pace at Monza

Button outperformed his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton in first practice

By Andrew Benson BBC Sport at Monza

Jenson Button set the pace in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix as his McLaren team traded fastest times with championship rivals Red Bull.

The world champion, his team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel all took turns at the top.

Button was just 0.097 seconds ahead of Vettel, with Hamilton third.

Renault's Robert Kubica and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg were next, with Mark Webber in sixth and Vitantonio Liuzzi just ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari have admitted they need a strong result at their home race this weekend after Alonso slipped 41 points behind championship leader Hamilton following the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago.

But the Spanish double world champion was 0.850secs off Button's pace at the end of the 90-minute session and Ferrari said on their Twitter feed that both he and team-mate Felipe Massa were "not too happy with the grip".

ANDREW BENSON'S BLOG No one in F1 believes team orders can be eradicated. After all, if a team want to order their drivers to finish in a particular order, there are plenty of ways of doing so without it ever becoming public

The teams spent their time analysing the set-ups they will need at the unique Monza track, the fastest on the F1 calendar.

The teams run their cars here with less aerodynamic downforce than at any other circuit and finding the right balance between straight line speed and cornering is key.

It is made more complicated this year by the presence on many cars of the F-duct aerodynamic device, pioneered by McLaren but since adopted by several other teams.

The device reduces the car's drag on the straights, allowing them either to have fastest straight-line speed for the same cornering pace, or to run more downforce in the corners without a penalty down the straights.

But the device has its own inherent drag, and the balance between running it and not running it is finer at Monza than anywhere else.

There were no major incidents for the front-runners in first practice, although Webber did run wide at the first chicane.

Veteran Williams driver Rubens Barrichello, who has been benefiting from his team's upturn in form in recent races, managed only four laps because the Brazilian's car stopped out on the track when it lost drive.

More to follow.

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