Adrian Sutil showed that Force India will still be a major threat in Italy by setting the fastest time in second practice at Monza.
The young German was followed by the equally sensational Romain Grosjean, as the French rookie pipped his illustrious Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso to second place with a late surge for the troubled squad.
1 Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) -1:23.924
2 Romain Grosjean (Renault) – 1:24.163
3 Fernando Alonso (Renault) – 1:24.297
4 Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:24.482
5 Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) – 1:24.622
6 Timo Glock (Toyota) – 1:24.634
7 Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) – 1:24.693
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) – 1:24.796
9 Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) – 1:24.799
10 Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 1:24.884
11 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:24.902
12 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India-Mercedes) – 1:24.921
13 Jarno Trulli (Toyota) – 1:24.967
14 Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) – 1:24.979
15 Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 1:25.003
16 Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) – 1:25.140
17 Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) – 1:25.215
18 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) – 1:25.386
19 Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) – 1:25.424
20 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari) – 1:25.543
Sutil topped the timesheets in third practice for the European Grand Prix in August, but the 26-year-old German finished tenth in Valencia.
The ban on in-season testing this year has meant Friday practice sessions have been even harder to decode as there is no way of knowing what fuel loads or race set-ups the teams are running.
McLaren showed why it is rated among the favourites to win the Italian Grand Prix by making a strong start in opening practice on Friday, Lewis Hamilton outpacing team-mate Heikki Kovalainen to head up the times.
With KERS-equipped cars expected to feature prominently on the high-speed Monza circuit, McLaren used its class-leading system to dominate the morning session, Hamilton in particular quickly got into the groove to outpace Kovalainen by almost 0.4s and finish just over 0.5s clear of the first non-McLaren with a best time of 1m23.936s.
1 – L Hamilton McLaren
2 – H Kovalainen McLaren
3 – A Sutil Force India
4 – F Alonso Renault
5 – N Heidfeld BMW Sauber
6 – S Buemi Toro Rosso
7 – J Button Brawn
8 – G Fisichella Ferrari
9 – M Webber Red Bull
10 – K Raikkonen Ferrari
11 – R Kubica BMW Sauber
12 – R Barrichello Brawn
13 – N Rosberg Williams
14 – K Nakajima Williams
15 – R Grosjean Renault
16 – V Liuzzi Force India
17 – J Alguersuari Toro Rosso
18 – S Vettel Red Bull
19 – J Trulli Toyota
20 – T Glock Toyota