Michael Schumacher set the fastest time for Mercedes in the
first free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
With speculation surrounding the German's future beyond 2012
continuing in the paddock, Schumacher came out firing with a
1m25.422s lap that no one could get within 0.3 seconds of.
Closest to him was Belgian GP winner Jenson Button (McLaren),
who was sandwiched by the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg in
third position.  Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, having
stopped his Ferrari at the Variante Alta chicane with five
minutes to go after suffering a suspected engine failure.
Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa was fifth ahead of Lewis
Hamilton in sixth, Kimi Raikkonen seventh. Sergio Perez, Mark
Webber and Pastor Maldonado completed the top 10.  The Williams
man also stopped out on the circuit just prior to the first
Lesmo in the final moments.  After the usual exploratory tracks
early in the session to assess grip levels, it was Schumacher
that remained fastest for much of the morning