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Hamilton on the ball

Monza is always a pleasure for this is a circuit complete with dreams, and the man with the ultimate dream here had to be Giancarlo Fisichella who, after a lengthy career, finally achieved what must be every Italian racing drivers ultimate goal when he drove out onto the Monza tarmac in a Ferrari. More of him later, but first practice for the Italian Grand Prix saw a clear gauntlet thrown down.

From the moment the green light came on and the ninety minute session began Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren were absolutely on it. The world champion threw his silver machine around with impressive aggression, attacking the high kerbs with skill and style, and his time of 1:23.936 – the sole effort under one minute twenty four seconds – eclipsed team mate Heikki Kovalainen by four tenths of a second as the flag waved to end the session.

KERS is the way to go here and, of course, McLaren has probably the most effective system of all, but third fastest went not to a KERS car, but to Adrian Sutil, the German proving that Force India’s Spa performance was no flash in the pan. A final quick lap saw Sutil post a time just over e tenth down on the second McLaren, yet he had been in the top few places all session. His team mate, a returning Tonio Liuzzi, spent the session trying to get up to speed after a lengthy absence from Formula One and would finish the session 16th, a creditable 1.2 seconds away from Sutil.

KERS also paved the way for the fourth place man as Fernando Alonso used the system to great effect and finished a fraction away from Sutil, a welcome boost to the Renault team as they enter a period where very dark clouds hang over them, and Nick Heidfeld was quick all session in the BMW and finished a welcome fifth.

Sebastien Buemi was something of a surprise in sixth for STR, but perhaps the bigger surprise was how far ahead – over a second – his team mate Jaime Alguersuari he finished the session, while Jenson Button and Brawn did the usual low key Friday thing and will be quietly confident with seventh.

Fisichella ran the last few laps on the softer option tyre, and the Italian will be delighted to have set the eighth fastest time of the morning; he began cautiously, getting a feel for the car, and improved with every outing. However, he looked to be a little ill at ease with the Ferrari although finishing the first session faster than Kimi Raikkonen – if only be a few hundredths – is still a major boost to his confidence.

Between the two Ferrari’s came the Red Bull of Mark Webber, the Australian complaining of understeer early in the session, while his team mate Sebastian Vettel remains hampered by a lack of spare engines and managed only eight laps late in the session.

An interesting first session in the bright sunshine of Monza, then, and a fine debut for the local hero in the Ferrari. Let’s see what this afternoon brings.

Written: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:46:46