|
 The Briton, who retired in Belgium 12 days ago after team mate
and championship leader Nico Rosberg hit the back of his car, ended
the session with a best time of one minute, 26.187 seconds.
Jenson Button, his former team mate at McLaren, was second fastest
on a dry track in 1:26.810, with Rosberg - who has never been on the
Monza podium - pushed back to third on the timesheets in 1:26.995.
Hamilton is 29 points behind Rosberg in the championship with seven
races remaining and is determined to claw his way back against his
German rival, who was punished by the team for the collision.
 Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest with Danish rookie
Kevin Magnussen reinforcing Button's strong showing with the fifth
best time for McLaren, who last won a race in 2012.
Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, last year's
winner at the 'cathedral' of Italian motorsport, was only sixth
fastest while Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo was back in
16th.
Ricciardo, as good as Italian to many of the home fans and chasing
his third win in a row, was sidelined for some of the session with a
power unit problem.
The Williams pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were 12th
and 13th but are likely to look more competitive in the afternoon.
[to top of second column] |
At the slow end of the field, Spanish driver Roberto Merhi made his debut
appearance at a Formula One weekend and lapped faster than regular race
driver Marcus Ericsson in the other Caterham.
Merhi will hand the car back to Japanese Kamui Kobayashi, returning
after being dropped by the team for Spa, for the rest of the weekend.
Spanish reserve driver Daniel Juncadella also had a stint with Force
India while Frenchman Charles Pic was handed compatriot Romain
Grosjean's Lotus for the session.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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