1445: Well that's it from me today - a session that has either thrown the cat firmly among the pigeons in terms of potential race winners at Monza, or thrown out more red herrings than a Miss Marple novel tucked in a fisherman's pocket. Are the likes of Force India and BMW the surprising teams to beat come Sunday? Will the Kers-boosted Renaults, Ferraris and McLaren dominate? Can Brawn GP and Red Bull regain their early-season form and impress once again? We will bring you some of the answers from Saturday morning when final practice and then qualifying get under way. Miss it, miss out. Ciao.

DavidSeamansTash on 606: "I'm pleasantly surprised to see how well the McLarens did. They looked really sharp. If they can qualify in third or fourth, a podium wouldn't be unrealistic."

LordProsperity on 606: "Looks to me like BMW will again be in the top 5 in Q3."

1434: By the way, correction to my 1429 update - Lewis Hamilton broke the 1:23s earlier today, of course.

Jam in Camberley via text on 81111: "Button fastest in the first two sectors then more or less last - sandbagging perhaps?"

1432: And that's how we finish people, with Adrian Sutil topping practice for only the second time this season with his uber-hot lap of 1:23.924 - that was 22 laps in the making and the German and his Force India team will be delighted with that. Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen put in late laps of 1:24.297 and 1:24.482 to finish third and fourth respectively behind Alonso's Renault team-mate Romain Grosjean, while Kovalainen's McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton finishes 11th. Championship leader Jenson Button finishes 19th, by the way - ouch - while fellow title front runners Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber also all fail to impress. Much work to be done by then ahead of Saturday practice, then.

1429: And Force India's Adrian Sutil responds immediately - he's the first man into the 1:23s this weekend with a 1:23.924.

1428: Kaboom! Renault's Romain Grosjean comes out of nowhere to post the fastest time of the day with a lap of 1:24.163. Two minutes of the session remaining.

1426: I would guard against reading too much into all these timings people - as if you didn't know already - because it'll all about the Kers come qualifying I tell you. That means a pole-fight between McLaren, Ferrari and Renault, if you ask me, and with Force India and BMW also looking in impressive form, the likes of Brawn GP and Red Bull could struggle to make an impact on the front rows of the grid come Saturday afternoon. Not great news for Button's bid to end his dry spell, but definitely good news for his drivers' title bid.

1423: Being a low downforce track, I guess it's no great surprise to see BMW impressing out at Monza, and Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld continue to occupy two of the top four places, with Toyota's Timo Glock third fastest in between them. Adrian Sutil remains the fastest man on the track, though, with Force India spreading the word in the paddock that they are not inordinately light or anything, they really do have genuine pace. Step up boys...

1419: Most of the cars are back in the garages as they prepare for a final punt in the last 10 minutes. Andy Keeley - Anthony Davidson says Jenson Button is not superstitious, "at least not when it comes to helmet design". So maybe he should change the order in which he puts his socks on or, better still, have a blooming shave or something as he looks to improve his recent fortunes hey?

Andy Keeley in Dagenham via text on 81111: "Ever since Button changed his helmet livery in Silverstone things have been going wrong! Is he a superstitious person?"

1414: Jenson Button sets personal bests in the first and second sectors... and then loses it completely in the final sector as Brawn GP's British driver fails to improve on his earlier time - he's 17th in the time-charts. He is in good company down there, though, with Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber all among the slowest eight drivers on the track.

1409: Jaime Alguersuari says he is "happy enough" with his Toro Rosso and, as 10th fastest, you can see why given his struggles since taking over from Sebastien Bourdais. Five Live's David Croft reckons the Toro Rossos might be ones to look out for if it rains...

1405: With 25 minutes remaining, Mark Webber is currently the slowest man on the track. He is back out and about, though, and he will be looking to pile into the timings. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are going through some last-minute Brawn GP set-up checks by the look of things, having shared 41 laps and failing to make much impact on the front runners. Adrian Sutil is still the fastest man in the charts with a 1:24.314.

1401: Lewis Hamilton, out on the softs, is losing almost 0.7 seconds in his final sector compared to the fastest man on the track, and that is costing the Briton dear - he is sixth fastest with his 1:25.099. Mark Webber, meanwhile, has only completed nine laps in his Red Bull because of a "chafed electrical loom", reports BBC pit-lane reporter Holly Samos. Sounds painful.

left_toe_lace_ups on 606: "An all-BMW front row would be good. Maybe then the teams will wake up and smell the coffee regarding Nick Heidfeld and Kubica next season - teams are hardly clambering over themselves to grab NH, which in my opinion they should be as when the refuelling ban comes in next season, Heidfeld is going to be one of the big rule-change beneficiaries."

1355: Hamilton goes fifth fastest on his flying lap with a 1:25.682, but Webber backs off and remains one spot off the slowest man on the track Sebastian Buemi. Sutil-Kubica-Heidfeld-Trulli is your top four at the moment, and if it finishes that way come race time I'll buy every single one of you a beer down the Dog and Whistle on Sunday evening. Erm, possibly.

1352: Looks like Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber are kicking into a flying lap out there, with the Australian barely a second behind his McLaren rival.

1350: Are we overlooking Force India as potential race winners here? Adrian Sutil pings his car round the Monza track for a doozy of a 1:24.314 lap and he is now the fastest man on the track.

David Fisher, Sutton-in-Ashfield, via text on 81111: "Spa followed by Monza, two of the really great circuits, really is a wonderful way to end the European part of the F1 season isn't it?"

1346: Force India's Adrian Sutil and Red Bull's Mark Webber have shared just 11 laps between them so far this session, but while the former is sitting pretty in second spot in the timings, the latter is way down in 18th with a fastest lap of 1:26.131. He's not the only Championship hopeful who has yet to set the Monza track alight, mind, with Jenson Button 14th quickest after 14 laps, Sebastian Vettel after 13 laps and Rubens Barrichello fifth after 19. Kazuki Nakajima spins into the gravel after clipping the apex at Parabolica, meanwhile, but does well to save the car and get back on track. That could have been a bit messy for the Williams team.

1342: Giancarlo Fisichella still one of a number of drivers missing the braking point coming out of the first chicane, and that corner is causing a few problems out there. The Italian is almost half a second off his new Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen at the moment, though we don't know their respective fuel loads at this point, obviously. Nick Heidfeld has re-emerged from the pits, meanwhile, but the balance of his car looks all wrong and the drop in speed over the first two sectors show that - he's 1.4 seconds off his own fastest time now.

cyclist/motor1 on 606: "I'd like to see Jenson reignite his title bout with the fastest time in second practice, which would silence his ever growing number of critics. Give the bloke a break, he wouldn't be so cool and calm if he didn't believe in himself."

More from Jackie Stewart on BBC Five Live: "I think Jenson Button was allowing the car to do all the work for him earlier in the season and he wasn't bullying it in any way. There is a chance that he could be overdriving slightly now. If you try too hard you just don't get the same job done. But he may just be so smooth that he's not getting the tyres temperatures high enough. I don't know the answers."

1335: I've not mentioned new Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi yet, but the Italian is impressing - he is currently fifth with a lap of 1:25.468. Team-mate and BBC text commentary darling Adrian Sutil is even quicker, mind, with a time of 1:25.809 to lie in second - and they are not even on the soft tyres. The German is the fastest driver through the first two sectors on the track, too. Compatriot Nick Heidfeld, meanwhile, is telling his BMW crew that he is not happy with his car's braking and the front wing as he goes through Turn Six. And he's top of the charts. Demanding.

Former world champion Jackie Stewart on Five Live: "Jenson Button has definitely gone off the boil - but I don't think I've ever seen such a closely-bunched group of top class drivers at the top of the Championship. Button, Barrichello, Webber and Vettel - all four of those drivers are as good as each other, I believe, and there is not one driver who can claim the title of 'the man'. That makes it very interesting."

Mikeman on 606: "I miss Luca Badoer. It was interesting to see how close he could get to car 19 before retiring. Poor Guy!!"

1327: A flyer from Nick Heidfeld on the soft tyres as the German posts a 1:24.902 in his BMW to go fastest in the session. That included a fastest sector times across the board of 27.7, 28.6 and 28.2, by the way - impressive. Lewis Hamilton upping the pace in his McLaren now, he's up to third with a 1:25.405.

1323: Sebastian Vettel, who currently lies fourth in the time charts, takes time out from his crosswords and Sudoko (see 0940) to give some feedback on his car in the Red Bull garage - he's fairly happy by the sound of it, which is encouraging given that he is having to desperately conserve his engines by running as few laps as possible in practice. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, jumps up to seventh spot with a 1:25.847.

1319: Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello goes second fastest with a 1:25.513, with team-mate Jenson Button 0.385 seconds behind in third spot as it stands. How the latter will be hoping for an improved qualifying position after complaining of too often getting stuck in traffic in recent races. Adrian Sutil the only man yet to post a completed lap time, while Lewis Hamilton is the slowest of those who have with a 1:31.930. That will almost certainly go down faster than a vol-au-vent at a wedding later in the session, says me.

BBC One F1 presenter Jake Humphrey on Twitter: "Just had lunch and a good chat with Mr Brundle, really heating up here!"

1313: A break down of sector times for you, then, with Heikki Kovalainen fastest in all three - 27.7 in the first, 28.8 the second, and 28.5 seconds in the last. McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who struggled in the middle section for much of the first session as well, is clocking 31.9 in that second section at the moment - that will have to come way down if he has his eyes on pole position.

1309: McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen is top of the time charts at the moment as McLaren continue to impress on the long straights at Monza, the Finn clocking a 1:25.311 for the fastest lap of the day so far. No doubt he and Lewis Hamilton - as well as the Ferraris and Renault - will be hugely boosted by their Kers systems in this race. Monza has the highest full-throttle percentage - 70% - of all the tracks in the championship, so that temporary power boost will be handier than a pair of mittens at Christmas down these long stretches in Italy.

BBC Five Live's pit-lane reporter Holly Samos: "During Giancarlo Fisichella's early laps in this session, race engineer Rob Smedley was talking him through every manouevre and setting on every straight and turn, literally giving him information on flaps, buttons, racing lines and so on with Fisichella zooming along at frightening speeds. Fascinating."

1303: Huzzah! The session may only be three minutes old, but Nico Rosberg is the fastest man out there with a lap of 1:27.568. Oh, no he isn't, BMW's Robert Kubica is quickest now with a 1:27.034. Red Bull boss Christian Horner is expecting big things from the BMWs this weekend, by the way, so keep an eye on them.

1300: Second practice gets under way, with Ferrari new boy Giancarlo Fisichella one of the first men out on the track. He out-performed team-mate Kimi Raikkonen - victor last time out at Spa, lest we forget - this morning, so an encouraging session for him. Can he maintain that?

VillaFour on 606: "If Nico Rosberg is the Prince of Practice, then Adrian Sutil must surely be the Pretender to the Throne?"

1256: Only the one spinner in first practice by the way - Jarno Trulli the man left red-faced - but plenty of errors in the braking areas as drivers get used to the kerbs and the turns at Monza.BBC pundit Anthony Davidson is not a happy bunny on that front, by the way, claiming the newly-raised kerbs at Roggia, for example, have taken all the flow out of the corner and therefore dulled the circuit far too much. Toyota, in particular, might just agree with him there - they have struggled all season on the street-track kerbs and will be hoping for a massive change of fortunes/form in this afternoon's session.

1251: For those new to F1, check out HambergF1's nice summary of the importance of practice below. He/she forgot to point out, though, that it's also ordinarily a chance for Nico Rosberg to get his name at the top of the charts - what happened to the Prince of Practice this morning huh? I'm expecting big things from the German Williams driver this afternoon.

HambergF1 on 606: "Free practice isn't there to show the world how fast the teams are, it's there to get the right set up for each driver for qualifying and the race. And also test new parts that they may or may not use for the race weekend."

BBC Sport's Sarah Holt in Monza: "Ciao again. Out in the Italian midday sun I went on a lunch-time mission to find some Ferrari-mad tifosi. While Monza's royal park is not quite swimming in a red sea, there were still plenty of face-painted fans, flags and brisk business being done at the Ferrari merchandise stands. The tifosi (fans) had plenty to smile about as news filtered through that their darling Michael Schumacher has agreed to continue in his consultancy role with Ferrari - and who knows what else if his neck heals - for another three years. His statement that he will give "more and more input" may not be such good news for Ferrari's new boy Giancarlo Fisichella, who may have been hoping to be the voice of experience when he becomes reserve driver in 2010."

1244: And seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher is also back in the headlines today after announcing he has extended his contract as a consultant at Ferrari for another three years. He appears to be focusing increasingly on road cars, though, so expect their latest models to have a "park in the middle of a Monte Carlo road" feature soon.

1240: As is so often the case in Formula 1 these days, though, the biggest news of the day so far has come from off the track. Renault have announced they are launching legal action against Nelson Piquet Jr and his father Nelson Piquet over race-fixing allegations made against the team, also referring to a "related attempt to blackmail the team". There quite literally is never a dull moment in F1 is there?

BBC pit-lane reporter Lee McLenzie on Twitter: "Been out amongst the tifosi filming. Met some Scottish people. Did some interviews in English and Italian! Good fun!"

Big_JF on 606: "I wouldn't rule out Button just yet. He managed to outpace four Kers cars and posted the fastest time of the four main title contenders (Button 7th, Webber 9th, Barrichello 12th, Vettel 18th)."

1235: So that was a fine first session for the resurgent McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen looking as comfortable as a duck-feathered quilt out at Monza, while Force India's Adrian Sutil, Renault's Fernando Alonso and new Ferrari man Giancarlo Fisichella - who outpaced team-mate Kimi Raikkonen - can also be happy with their early efforts. Not that we can necessarily read too much into this morning's timings, though, which might be of relief to Toyota, whose pace was about as good as a antelope with a limp in first practice. Where's your money going this weekend folks?

1230: No secret as to who Jenson Button's greatest ally might be in the drivers' title run-in, then - Lewis Hamilton can expect a bumper Christmas hamper from his misfiring compatriot if he continues his resurgence for the rest of the season and no mistake. While Button has been floundering about the track like a shark in a sand-pit these past few races, Hamilton has been provided with a McLaren that looks almost as impressive as its predecessor was bad. And if Hamilton continues to take points off Button's title rivals in the remaining five races, the drivers' championship leader might just get away with a drop in form that makes Lenny Henry's look shallow. It certainly looks like Hamilton is in the groove at Monza doesn't it?

1039: Well, thank you for being gentle with me on my F1 live text debut. The second practice session starts at 1300 BST - and you'll be delighted to know that Sam Lyon will be taking over the live text hot seat for that one - make sure you start your engines and join him at 1230 BST for all the build-up.

BBC Sport's Jake Humphrey on Twitter: "Been told I need to be in the paddock to interview Max Mosley... don't think I'll take my iphone and grab a snap... not quite the right look!"

1036: Certainly a McLaren-dominated first practice session.

From KyrosV on 606: "Wow, Fisichella is currently faster than Kimi! Eat that Luca Badoer!"

1031: And there's the chequered flag - as we expected, it's a McLaren one-two. There's a Force India car third, but it's not new boy Vitantonio Liuzzi - his team-mate Adrian Sutil sneaked into third in the last few seconds of the session. Allons-y, Alonso - Renault should be fairly pleased as Fernando Alonso was fourth. But it's a session to forget for Toyota with Messrs Trulli and Glock in the naughty corner after coming 19th and 20th.

1030: There's an Adrian Chiles lookalike in the McLaren garage, but it's The One-Two Show for McLaren as their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen are first and second fastest.

1027: Hamilton races round again, but can't improve on his fastest time. He still looks set to be fastest in this session unless someone can really burn it up in the next three minutes...

1026: It's not been a good session for Timo Glock after that spin earlier. He's tail-end Charlie at the moment in 20th place, he and Jarno Trulli are both slower than Vettel - who as we discussed earlier, is doing not much more than going through the motions in this session.

BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz: "Sometimes you come to a track and get a feeling about a team that all is well and comfortable for them - and this weekend that team is McLaren. They are brimming with confidence and look very much in the groove, could we be looking at a Lewis Hamilton-Heikki Kovalainen one-two in qualifying?"

1024: Kimi Raikkonen is rampaging round the track like the Red Baron, but he's still only eighth fastest at this stage. Some anxious faces look on in the Ferrari garage - they'd love to do well in front of their own fans.

1023: Fisichella is running soft tyres at the moment, he's about a second-and-a-half off the pace but you can expect that gap to close as he gets used to the Ferrari car.

1019: Just under 10 minutes remaining in this session, and Sebastian Vettel is finally out, taking it very easy. Plenty of chat on 5 live about the future of various drivers and which team they may end up with for 2010 or 2011 - should they instigate a football-style transfer window for such moves?

BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz: "A quick look at the back of Jenson Button's car reveals some charring as a result of a small flash-fire earlier on in practice in the pits. Not a huge problem for the Briton I wouldn't think, but not ideal obviously."

1014: Barrichello suffers a bit of front locking, and has to cut across the chicane as he adjusts the steering. He's back in ninth place now - still the McLarens and Alonso up front, followed by Sutil and Heidfeld. Hamilton has improved his fastest time to 1:23.936. Meanwhile, Jenson Button has one or two problems with his car - a small fire broke out on it earlier.

1011: Michael Schumacher has arrived at the paddock. Wonder how he feels to watch Fisichella out there for Ferrari, given the German legend's abortive F1 comeback earlier this year. Meanwhile, I can recommend a read of Sarah Holt's latest piece about this latest twist in Fisichella's career.

From NN on 606: "With the BBC F1 site predicting rain for Saturday and Sunday - how much will today's dry practice sessions actually tell us or the teams?"

1006: Adrian Sutil is not particularly, er, subtle as he races above Heidfeld into third place, only to be immediately displaced by Fernando Alonso. And an Anthony Davidson fact for you: his brother Andrew appeared in the first UK series of Big Brother (along with Nasty Nick). Seems like a lifetime ago.

Anthony Davidson on BBC 5 live: "Just seen Lewis Hamilton doing his infamous 'aero' run down the straight where, basically, he sticks the car in cruise mode at a constant speed so he and the team can work on and assess the car's aerodynamics - it just shows McLaren are still definitely working on this season's car."

1004: Timo Glock goes for a spin trying to take a tight corner and ends up facing the wrong direction. I seem to remember that happening the last time I played one of those "driving" computer games. Big red letters flashed up informing me I was going the wrong way.

Cracking feedback from Force India's new driver Vitantonio Liuzzi over the team radio: "The car balance was pretty good for the first few laps and the handling too, but around corners six and seven I felt graining on the front tyres, causing understeer, and I think we'll have to talk about the gear ratios a bit later."

1001: Vitantonio Liuzzi's car is back in the hutch, he's near the back of the standings but must be delighted to be back among the elite 20. Nick Heidfeld's had a good session, he's back up to third fastest.

BBC Sport's Sarah Holt at Monza: "An exuberant Sebastian Vettel claimed a stunning victory at a soaking wet Monza last season but the Red Bull driver is having to be a bit more circumspect this time around. Vettel is expected to use the last of his allotted eight race engines this weekend at a track which is particularly punishing on engines - BMW boss Mario Theissen calls it the "ultimate power" circuit because drivers can go full throttle here, hitting top speeds of 340kph. Vettel says he is "not overly worried" because he can re-use any of his Renault engines but after four engine failures this season he has to take it easy. Ted Kravitz, prowling the pit lane, has spotted Vettel at leisure, reading a book at the back of the Red Bull garage after completing just a single installation lap in first practice."

0958: Rubens Barrichello, last month's European Grand Prix winner, is up to fourth - it's McLaren first and second (as Kovalainen moves above Button), with Brawn GP third and fourth.

From apapworth1 on 606: "Given that most of Jenson's problems seem to stem from poor qualifying performances, you wonder why Brawn don't send him out immediately and use the extra 45 minutes they've gained to do simulated qualifying runs later in the session."

0953: At this stage, Sebastian Vettel is the only driver not to set a time yet. To expand on his engine problems from earlier, Vettel suffered two engine failures at the European Grand Prix in Valencia last month, leaving him with just two fresh power plants, and two units that already have mileage remaining on them to last the rest of the season. A bit like a golfer who keeps finding the water and has to play cautiously so he doesn't run out of golf balls and have to abandon his round...

0952: Robert Kubica's car is in for a quick service, but it's a British one-two out on the track as no-one can catch Hamilton's time of 1:24.147, with championship leader Button still just behind him. There's just 1.6 seconds separating the top 13.

From ButtonNumber22 on 606: "The smart money is surely on a Kers car victory this weekend… though I wouldn't discount Red Bull or Brawn… I just hope the drivers' championship goes to the wire."

0949: Just over 40 minutes remaining in this first practice session.

From Alex in Retford, via text on 81111: "With Vettel's restricted engines, why aren't Red Bull putting all their eggs into the Webber basket?"

0944: I-Spy Bernie: Mr Ecclestone is glad-handing in the paddock. Meanwhile, good news for Ross Brawn as Button has shot up in the standings and is now second fastest behind Hamilton. Force India's Adrian Sutil is third.

From Hammydigrassi on 606: "Glad to see Fisichella finally get his childhood dream, hope he does well for Ferrari."

0942: Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock are all out on the track - 17 cars have set lap times so far, the McLaren duo still out in front.

0940: The word is that Sebastian Vettel is only going to be doing a limited number of laps as he's already blown a few engines this season - you can only use a maximum of eight. Still, the Sudoku should keep him occupied (see below) - it works for my dad on plane journeys.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner: "We're just running through a few programmes with Mark's (Webber) car this morning, while we'll only a few laps with Sebastian (Vettel). Sebastian is basically keeping himself occupied this session by doing the odd crossword or Sudoku - though some of that is for the benefit of the reporters here. He's got a wicked sense of humour - you'll have to hear his Kimi Raikkonen impression one day. As for this weekend - I wonder if the BMW might be a surprise competitor come race time."

0938: It's McLaren fastest so far, with Hamilton and Kovalainen ahead of Heidfeld and Buemi. Kazuki Nakajima is up and running too.

0935: Fisichella suffers a wheel-lock and skids across a corner - BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld joins Raikkonen out on the circuit, while team-mate Robert Kubica appears to be circumnavigating some cones on an empty bit of track, in the manner of a cycling proficiency exam - but he's out now too.

0932: To the delight of the tifosi, Fisichella is back out, his Ferrari racing round in fire-engine red.

0928: The BBC commentary box is besieged by some wasps as Kimi Raikkonen looks every inch the Finnish "iceman" as he waits to drive his Ferrari out of the garage. Heikki Kovalainen has joined McLaren team-mate Hamilton on the track - and reigning world champion Lewis has just overtaken Buemi with a fastest time of 1:25.410.

0926: His buddy Ricky Ponting may have lost the Ashes again, but Australia's Mark Webber is the slowest of the four drivers to register lap times so far - Hamilton is second, with those speedy Toro Rosso guys first and third.

BBC Sport's pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie: "Every year in Italy I have the honour of presenting the Gonzalo Rodriguez Awards and after a busy day at the track off I went to do the honours last night at the Sporting Club Monza. Attended by GP2 teams and drivers and some of the F1 paddock, it is always an emotional but lovely evening with a lot of money raised for charity. It is 10 years ago today that Goncho, who despite racing in Formula 3000 was a paddock favourite, passed away in one of his first Champ Car practices. Championship contenders Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber as well as the Williams drivers all popped in to show their support, while long-standing supporters Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Brawn GP chief executive Nick Fry were also there."

0924: Lewis Hamilton is out in the unmistakeable McLaren colours - weaving across the track trying to warm his tyres up.

0921: Buemi shaves a couple of seconds off his previous lap time - then races round again and knocks another second off. Mind you, driving's always easier when there's no traffic in front of you? He and Alguersuari are still the only drivers out doing laps at the moment.

From Scott in Honiton, via text on 81111: "Fisi looks like a kid that's got the biggest chocolate bar ever"

0917: Sebastien Buemi completes the fastest lap so far in his Toro Rosso (1:29.687) - his team-mate Jaime Alguersuari is a couple of seconds slower.

BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz: "A quick technical update - Ferrari are using a new double diffuser in the back of the car which, in effect, simply boasts a bigger hole in the back. If in doubt, stick another hole in I guess..."

0913: Jarno Trulli is sat at the back of the Toyota garage, grinning, while Renault's Romain Grosjean is the latest man out on the track.

BBC pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie on Twitter: "Weather great here and about to brave the masses and do a feature with the 'Tifosi'"

0907: Rubens Barrichello looking pretty speedy in his Brawn, although he's bumping over a lot of the kerbs. Fisichella's back in the Ferrari garage, he's very popular with the locals here as you might imagine.

BBC pit-lane reporter Holly Samos: "Liuzzi has just done a lap, come back, they're just changing his set-up. His helmet is very similar to that of Fisichella, who's down at the other end with Ferrari."

BBC Sport's Sarah Holt on Twitter: "Fisi will use 1st practice to get used to Ferrari's Kers boost button & front-wing flaps but predicts he'll be competitive in 2nd practice"

0903: The car in front isn't a Toyota - Timo Glock is rolled back into the garage after a very brief outing. Nico Rosberg's staying out a bit longer in his Williams.

0901: Red Bull's cars are out early, Sebastian Vettel charges round on an empty track while Mark Webber's helpers remove his tyre covers.

Anthony Davidson on BBC 5 live: "Jenson Button really has to up his game in the next few races if he is to enjoy the lead he's got in the championship until the end of the year. The three drivers behind him are battling between themselves and that's what's allowed Jenson to enjoy the lead he has for this long."

0855: Last-minute preparations for Liuzzi, who turned 28 last month, in the Force India garage. Meanwhile, Renault's Fernando Alonso has plenty of media attention as he walks to his car. Speaking yesterday, he was very surprised at the race-fixing allegations levelled at Renault in connection to last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

BBC Sport's Sarah Holt at Monza: "Welcome to Italy; home to the last European race of the season - it's come around quickly hasn't it? Monza is bound to provide a fitting farewell and, at least for now, the sun is shining through the towering trees of the famous royal park track. Fierce, fast and furious; Monza demands a lot of the drivers and the cars. The long, long straights will give plenty of opportunity for Ferrari and McLaren to use the Kers power-boost to their advantage - and Renault have resurrected it for this race too. Of course, it's way too early to make predictions but Martin Brundle has just had a word in my ear, and he reckons Force India will be a force to be reckoned with for the second race in a row."

0852: Morning, everyone. Skies are clear at Monza, Giancarlo Fisichella is just zipping up his Ferrari suit and Vitantonio Liuzzi is all ready for his first race as Fisichella's replacement at Force India.