BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld topped the timesheets here at a sunny Monza this afternoon, the German racer concentrating on setup work with regards to the upcoming Italian Grand Prix. Working on the low down force configuration for the Monza race the team tried different aerodynamic solutions. Running without major technical problems Heidfeld also sampled the tyre options for the Italian Grand Prix.                      

Second quickest was the Williams of Nico Rosberg who covered 100 laps of the 5.793km track

“Nico was back in the cockpit today and completed 100 laps of the Monza track with no mechanical problems. The team spent the session continuing set-up preparations for the Italian Grand Prix,” said Dickie Stanford, Test Team Manager, Williams F1. “Kazuki will join us this evening to take over from Nico tomorrow.”

Third fastest was the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen followed by Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel who carried out a comparison of the two types of Bridgestone tyre that will be available for the Italian Grand Prix. He also evaluated different brake materials.

Teammate Sebastien Bourdais took over for the second half of the day, the Frenchman having a shorter session as the engine was due to reach its distance limit before the end of the day. Therefore he carried out just two runs to get a feel for the car in its Monza configuration before successfully tackling a long run until the engine limit was reached. Bourdais continues tomorrow, when he will tackle a full day of race preparation.

Felipe Massa was fifth for Ferrari followed by Fernando Alonso in sixth.

	DRIVER	TEAM	BEST	LAPS
1	HEIDFELD	BMW	1 :22.621	89
2	ROSBERG	Williams	1 :22.879	100
3	KOVALAINEN	McLaren	1 :23.341	92
4	VETTEL	Toro Rosso	1 :23.424	47
5	MASSA	Ferrari	1 :23.445	86
6	ALONSO	Renault	1 :23.606	95
7	SUTIL	Force India	1 :23.823	92
8	WEBBER	Red Bull Racing	1 :23.936	101
9	TRULLI	Toyota	1 :24.158	77
10	BOURDAIS	Toro Rosso	1 :24.311	44
11	BARRICHELLO	Honda	1 :24.695	51
12	BUTTON	Honda	1 :25.049	42