Mercedes one second clear of Mercedes; Hamilton was fastest in every session last year; Button tests the Halo
Monday 5 September 2016 09:06, UK
Nico Rosberg has taken the early initiative for the Italian GP by beating Lewis Hamilton to top spot in Practice One at Monza.
At last year's Italian GP, Hamilton topped every session before winning the race to extend his championship lead.
But it was Rosberg who set the pace on Friday morning with a lap of 1:22.959, two tenths faster than Hamilton's best effort.
Rosberg's Practice One time, recorded on soft tyres, was also faster than Hamilton's pole position lap 12 months ago.
Hamilton twice missed the Turn Five chicane as he tested the limits of the Monza circuit.
Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth respectively, but still finished the session a second shy of Mercedes.
As is now traditional for their home race, Ferrari have introduced upgraded engines this weekend at Monza. In doing so, the Scuderia have become the first of the sport's four engine makers to spend all of their available 32 power unit 'tokens' for 2016. Honda still have three to spend, Mercedes six and Renault 21.
Underlining his team's threat to Williams, who they overtook in the Constructors' Championship last week at Spa, Force India's Sergio Perez was fifth quickest, two places ahead of Valtteri Bottas with Haas' Romain Grosjean sandwiched in between.
But apparently lacking straightline speed, Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were only eighth and 10th quickest with the team braced for a weekend of damage limitation.
Three more drivers used the session to test the Halo device with the safety device used on the cars of Jenson Button, Verstappen and Perez.
Button was 11th for McLaren, two places up on team-mate Fernando Alonso, while the struggling Renault team brought up the rear of the field after being outpaced by Sauber and Manor.
Practice One timesheet
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:22.959
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:23.162
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:24.047
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:24.307
5. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:24.650
6. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:24.763
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:24.785
8. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:24.982
9. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:25.113
10. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:25.120
11. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:25.351
12. Alfonso Celis, Force India, 1:25.367
13. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:25.507
14. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:25.840
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:25.853
16. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:25.973
17. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:26.074
18. Esteban Ocon, Manor, 1:26.391
19. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:26.439
20. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:26.762
21. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:26.811
22. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:26.956
