Vettel sets the pace in Italy

Teams got back to work straight away this afternoon, making good use of the great conditions.

Ten minutes in, seventeen drivers already had a time on the board. As Hamilton, Vettel and Webber bided their time, Robert Kubica took charge at the front. He was leading from Hulkenberg and Barrichello when Jenson Button edged him over with a 1’24’’062.

The McLaren driver kept pushing and set a 1’23’’296 fastest time. Alonso moved up to P2 while Rosberg slotted in 3rd ahead of Massa and Kubica. With almost thirty minutes gone, Sebastian Vettel joined the track and quickly put himself up in fourth spot.

Lewis Hamilton then improved and beat his teammate with a 1”23”154. Halfway through the session, the British driver was leading from his McLaren teammate and both Ferraris of Massa and Alonso. Vettel was fifth fastest.

Soft tyres made their appearance in the second part of the session and yielded some improvements. Alonso and Vettel both dipped under the 1’23 barrier and the German placed his Red Bull on top of the timesheet.

As Vettel was leading the way, his teammate Webber’s RB6 lost all drive and the Australian had to park it at the exit of Lesmo 1.

Most of the drivers were back on track as the session came to an end but none of them managed to improve. Vettel remained on top with Alonso hot on his heels. Massa was up in 3rd place. The McLarens of Hamilton and Button completed the top five. Webber held on to sixth spot.

Barrichello, Kubica, Hulkenberg and Rosberg rounded off the top ten.

Jaime Alguersuari’s session came to a premature halt with 23 minutes left as he had to pull off to the side of the track just after the exit of the Roggia chicane.

It was definitely a tough day for Bruno Senna. Having only been able to complete eight laps in the morning session – due a to a brake fluid leak – the Brazilian suffered another mechanical failure shortly after the pitlane exit, at the start of the afternoon session.

The team needed nearly an hour to fix the problem, only for the car to stop once again in the pitlane. He tried to leave the pits a third time, at the end of the session, but couldn’t go any further than the pitlane exit. This third failure put an end to what was an extremely frustrating day for Senna and the HRT team. The team’s other driver, Sakon Yamamoto, completed only five laps in the afternoon.