Sebastian Vettel showed set the fastest time in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix practice.
The Red Bull driver set a quickest lap of 1 minute, 22.839 seconds around the Monza circuit to deny local favorite Fernando Alonso the day’s best time. The Ferrari driver was less than one-tenth of a second off the pace.
Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa was third ahead of McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button following the afternoon session.
Vettel finished outside of the points at the Belgian Grand Prix after crashing into Button following a mistake that also ended the British driver’s race.
A healthy turnout of fans turned out for the session, with a banner in Italian also welcoming the return of former Ferrari great Michael Schumacher to the temple of Italian motorsport.
“Michael we always wish you well,” it read.
Schumacher, now with Mercedes at the age of 41 and after three years out, was 10th fastest while teammate Nico Rosberg was fifth.
Button was fastest in the opening practice session.
Both McLaren and Red Bull are expected to challenge for victory at the low-downforce, high-speed track after Hamilton led Mark Webber in a 1-2 finish at the Belgian Grand Prix’s Spa circuit, which holds similar characteristics to Monza.
Hamilton leads Webber by three points going into tomorrow’s 53-lap race, while third-place Vettel is 31 points behind the leader.
Vettel, Button and Alonso are separated by only 10 points.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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