On the opening day of testing at Monza, Lewis Hamilton proved to be the fastest man on the track, just edging out Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton was testing out an ultra low downforce wing and set a best lap of 1:24.112 early on. He suffered a minor failure during the morning when a CV join failed however the issue was soon resolved and he was able to continue testing.
Ferrari have been working to improve the way the F2007 car handles the kerbs. Raikkonen seemed happy with the pace of the car as he also worked on some with a new aerodynamic package.
Nick Heidfeld continued a good run of form finishing third overall, less than two tenths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton. Toyota, with Jarno Trulli at the helm, finished fourth as they tested out a new downforce configuration with a new rear wing and sidepods.
Williams were fifth with driver Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel. The Japanese driver was hoping to impress as he is hoping to enter Formula 1 next season. Williams were testing some new aerodynamics, one of which included a McLaren-type bridge across the nose cone.
Vettel showed good pace in the Toro Rosso to finish seventh, with Nelson Piquet Jnr in the Renault in eighth. Piquet Jnr was in the first car to test out the new 2008 ECU.
Down in ninth, Mark Webber had another torrid day when a mechanical problem brought a red flag to the session. James Rossiter also caused a red flag in the Super Aguri after his steering wheel suffered from an electrical glitch.
Towards the end of the session, rain hit the circuit as predicted. Many of the teams are contemplating staying on for a further day at the circuit if rain continues to fall on Wednesday.
Unofficial Times for Monza Testing, Day 1
