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Sebastian Vettel may have led the way in Italy on Friday although the German is keeping an eye on the McLaren cars, with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton having finished first and third in the first practice session before dropping to fourth and fifth in the afternoon.

Felipe Massa narrowly escaped a large accident at Monza on Friday, with the Brazilian having run wide upon exiting the Parabolica just days after the 20th anniversary of Derek Warwick's crash for Lotus, which came from a similar error.

Fernando Alonso has revealed that he and Ferrari were running a different amount in fuel in Monza's second practice session to the first one in Italy on Friday. With Sebastian Vettel leading the way for Red Bull, the local Tifosi were pleased to see the red cars move up from eighth and ninth to second and third on the day's final timesheets.

It has been confirmed by Williams that a gearbox issue was the reason Rubens Barrichello's car stopped in Monza's first practice session on Friday morning, leaving the Brazilian 21st quickest and with only four laps to his name.

After both McLarens toured with f-ducts on-board for the first Italian Grand Prix practice session on Friday morning, Lewis Hamilton elected to run without the tool in the afternoon although the 2008 Champion has confirmed that a decision is yet to be made for qualifying and the race.

Mercedes Grand Prix rounded out free practice tenth and fourteenth quickest at Monza on Friday, at a track on which the squad – under former guise Brawn GP – enjoyed a 1-2 result with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello last year. However, Nico Rosberg is particularly keen to rectify his car setup in Saturday morning's final hour of practice.

Both Lotus drivers were forced to tread lightly as practice began in Italy on Friday morning, with both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen having been victims of hydraulics problems. However, Chief Race Engineer Jody Egginton is pleased with the overall performance of the team which allowed its drivers to still finish as the quickest of Formula 1's three new 2010 entrants.

Robert Kubica was neither highly pleased nor disappointed with his performances in the first and second free practices at Monza on Friday, with the Pole – who finished an impressive third last time out at Spa – registering the eighth fastest time of the day.

Jaime Alguersuari remains upbeat at Monza despite being forced to pull off the track whilst exiting the Roggia Chicane in second practice. The Barcelona man finished the 90 minutes 18th fastest, 2.3 seconds down on pace-setter Sebastian Vettel and sixth tenths off the 15th quickest pace of team-mate Sébastien Buemi.

Frank Williams says he supported Ferrari in its FIA disciplinary hearing this week not to help his rivals but because he believes team orders should be allowed in F1.

Q and A: Frank Williams on team orders

Friday's press conference - Italy

Italy Friday quotes: HRT

Italy Friday quotes: Ferrari

Italy Friday quotes: Red Bull

Italy Friday quotes: Williams

McLaren duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were upbeat on Friday afternoon after their cars were consistently among the top runners in first and second practise.

Italy Friday quotes: McLaren

Italy Friday quotes: Force India