| 09:50:12
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of the Italian Grand Prix weekend. Today we have two 90-minute free practice sessions, the first of which begins shortly. |
| 09:52:38
| The lead up to this race has been dominated by the penalty incurred by Lewis Hamilton in Belgium which saw him handed a 25 second penalty and stripped of the victory. As ever, there are mixed views on the subject but McLaren Mercedes are appealing the stewards decision. |
| 09:54:54
| As it stands, Hamilton now leads the championship by just two points from Felipe Massa with Kimi Raikkonen 21 points adrift in fourth position. There are however 50 points still up for grabs so the title race in not yet a two-horse race. |
| 09:56:36
| Testing at Monza took place prior to the Belgian Grand Prix and it was Nick Heidfeld that set the pace for the BMW Sauber team with a best lap of 1:22.621s, two-tenths ahead of Nico Rosberg and three-tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Pole position last year was a 1:21.997s set by Fernando Alonso in his McLaren. |
| 09:58:13
| The cars are not running race engines or gearboxes today in free practice, so any mechanical failure will not incur a grid position penalty. |
| 10:00:22
| The free practice session is now underway. It is a little hazy and dry. |
| 10:01:03
| Giancarlo Fisichella is the first driver on track. There are actually a few damp patches from overnight rain. |
| 10:02:21
| Nico Rsoberg is on track in his Williams. There is more than damp actually as Fisichella kicks up the spray. |
| 10:03:05
| The drivers will complete an installation lap and then pit for checks. Bourdais, Piquet, Trulli and others on track. |
| 10:03:18
| Nakajima cuts a chicane and continues. |
| 10:04:43
| A busy start to the session as most have gone straight out for an installation lap. No-one has set a time yet. |
| 10:05:55
| Jenson Button is on a second lap. They are all running the wet tyre at the moment. |
| 10:06:46
| Button has pitted without setting a time. Lewis Hamilton is on his installation lap. |
| 10:07:52
| Fisichella and Sutil are back out for Force India. Hamilton has returned to the pits. Barrichello is on his installation lap. |
| 10:09:06
| Barrichello returns to the pit as the Force India duo flash across the line together. |
| 10:09:37
| Fisichella cuts the second chicane. |
| 10:10:14
| There is a dry line around much of the circuit, but the back straight remains wet. |
| 10:10:56
| Sutil sets the initial pace from Fisichella as the clouds seems to be moving in. |
| 10:12:19
| The Force India driver remain on track. No-one else is running at the moment. |
| 10:13:34
| Sutil pits as Fisichella improves his time to roughly 13 seconds off the expected dry pace. |
| 10:14:12
| Rubens Barrichello heads out in his Honda. Fisichella returns to the pits. |
| 10:16:42
| Barrichello is on the wet tyres but there is less spray now on the back straight. |
| 10:17:21
| Barrichello moves to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1:34.4. |
| 10:17:45
| The teams are expecting rain shortly. |
| 10:18:00
| Adrian Sutil heads back out. |
| 10:18:56
| Barrichello improves his own best time by almost a second next time around. |
| 10:19:36
| Now Fisichella re-joins his team-mate on track. |
| 10:20:29
| Sutil locks his brakes and runs across the second chicane. |
| 10:21:17
| Bourdais and Vettel head out for Toro Rosso. |
| 10:21:33
| Sutil has moved second fastet. |
| 10:22:08
| Fisichella and Sutil run nose to tail again on track. |
| 10:22:57
| Nakajima is back out in his Williams. |
| 10:24:06
| Another lock up for Sutil as he cuts the second chicane again. |
| 10:25:05
| Nakajima has spun his Williams and takes a trip through the gravel trap before rejoining the circuit. |
| 10:25:24
| Nakajima seems to be on the dry tyres. |
| 10:26:03
| Vettel, also on dry tyres, takes a trip through the garvel at Ascari. |
| 10:26:44
| Bourdais and Vettel have both pitted. Just Coulthard, Fisichella and Sutil on track. |
| 10:28:33
| Now Sutil moves fastest in his Force India by half a second from Barrichello. |
| 10:29:17
| The rains have now arrived. |
| 10:29:55
| Sutil runs off track at the Ascari chicane. |
| 10:30:47
| Sutil now pits leaving just Fisichella on track. |
| 10:31:34
| With a third of the session now completed, just five drivers have set a lap time with Sutil fastest on a 1:32.8. |
| 10:32:13
| Now Fisichella pits. No-one on track. |
| 10:33:04
| With the light rain falling, the drivers are all opting to remain in the pits. |
| 10:36:37
| Jenson Button makes a practice starts at the end of the pitlane and then heads out on the intermediate tyre. |
| 10:38:41
| Button in on a catious out lap at the moment. It now much wetter than it was at the start of the session with the Parabolica and main straight now wet. |
| 10:40:19
| Button does not complete the lap and pits. |
| 10:41:09
| Sebastien Bourdais is back on track. It is now fully wet on the main straight. |
| 10:43:00
| There are roosters of spray coming from the back of the Toro Rosso. It could well be that Adrian Sutil will end this session fastest. |
| 10:43:19
| Jarno Trulli heads out in his Toyota. |
| 10:45:05
| Bourdais cannot make the first chicane as he takes down the escape area. He resumes and Glock has now joined the circuit in the second Toyota. |
| 10:46:14
| Barrichello is back out. Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa have yet to leave the pit lane in this session. |
| 10:46:45
| It is pretty clear that the rains are not going to pass. |
| 10:47:18
| Trulli moves fifth fastest in his Toyota, ten seconds off the dry pace. |
| 10:48:50
| Now Timo Glock takes over the fifth position, seven seconds off the dry pace. |
| 10:50:32
| Glock improves next time around and is now 5.5 seconds behind Sutil. |
| 10:51:29
| Nico Rosberg heads out on the full wet tyres. |
| 10:51:55
| It is now too wet for the intermediate rain tyre. |
| 10:52:13
| Renault send out Piquet and Alonso. |
| 10:52:50
| Glock cuts the first chicane and continues. |
| 10:54:04
| Rosberg is now on his first timed lap of the session. |
| 10:54:29
| Rosberg just makes it through the first chicane. |
| 10:55:34
| Rosberg's first lap moves him eighth fastest. |
| 10:55:50
| Piquet spins his Renault into the first chicane. |
| 10:57:01
| Barrichello, Glock, Trulli, Rosberg, Alonso and Piquet on track. |
| 10:58:13
| Kimi Raikkonen heads out in his Ferrari. |
| 10:59:09
| Raikkonen starts his first timed lap of the session. |
| 10:59:31
| Alonso moves seventh fastest in his Renault. |
| 11:00:44
| Now Massa heads out in the second Ferrari. It is now very dark overhead and getting wetter and wetter. |
| 11:01:32
| Raikkonen's first lap moves him 11th. |
| 11:02:04
| Rosberg moves fourth, fastest of the proper wet times at the moment. |
| 11:02:59
| Raikkonen improves a little next time around but remains 1.6s off Rosberg. |
| 11:03:44
| Massa's first lap places him slowest in 13th. |
| 11:04:25
| Rosberg pits the Williams at four second off the ultimate pace. |
| 11:05:08
| It is so dark now at Monza. The green lights on the straight stand out through the mist and rain. |
| 11:06:06
| Sutil goes for a spin before rejoining. |
| 11:07:35
| Glock moves fourth fastest in his Toyota, just a fraction ahead of Rsoberg. He now has the fastest full wet time. |
| 11:09:45
| Massa has pitted and remains slowest of all in 14th position. Raikkonen, ninth, has also pitted. |
| 11:11:39
| Only Barrichello, Vettel and Button now on track, It is now so dark it looks almost like night time |
| 11:11:57
| It is raining so hard now. |
| 11:12:29
| Barrichello spins and returns to the pits. |
| 11:13:55
| Vettel returns to the pits. No-one on track as there is a flash of lightening. |
| 11:14:36
| It is hard to see anyone running in these conditions. 15 minutes remain. |
| 11:18:41
| The circuit remains green, but no-one is running at all. It is doubtful anyone will run again this mornign meaning Sutil will top the first session in his Force India. |
| 11:20:43
| The pit lane seems to be flooding now with the drains unable to cope! |
| 11:25:32
| The rains continue as the teams inspect the bubbling drains in the pit lane and sweep out water that is now flowing into the pit garages. |
| 11:26:02
| The session has been halted with four minutes remaining. |
| 11:27:18
| SO that is the end of the session. Adrian Sutil is fastest with a best lap of 1:32.8 from Barrichello and Fisichella. Timo Glock is fourth fastest and quickest of the wet runners ahead of Rosberg, Alonso and Bourdais. |
