Lewis Hamilton opened the first practice session with the fastest lap to give him a commanding lead over the rest of the field, including his team-mate Nico Rosberg.
The Briton’s 1:26.187 came toward the end of the session, but it was enough to put him six-tenths ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and a further two-tenths ahead of Rosberg in third.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was the only other driver to get within a second of the lead Mercedes, but only just.
McLaren will surely be happy with Button in second and Kevin Magnussen fifth as they look to exploit the top-speed advantage of their Mercedes engine combined with low-drag bodywork.
Sebastian Vettel was sixth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez – the Mexican suffered a slight off under braking for Ascari which sent him through the gravel trap.
Several reserve drivers had an outing with Giedo van der Garde for Sauber, Daniel Juncadella for Force India, Charles Pic for Lotus and Roberto Mehri for Caterham.
FP1 Full Times – 2014 Italian Grand Prix:
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:26.187 | ||
| 02 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:26.810 | 0.623 | |
| 03 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:26.995 | 0.808 | |
| 04 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:27.169 | 0.982 | |
| 05 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:27.228 | 1.041 | |
| 06 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:27.271 | 1.084 | |
| 07 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:27.493 | 1.306 | |
| 08 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:27.687 | 1.500 | |
| 09 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:27.741 | 1.554 | |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:28.112 | 1.925 | |
| 11 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:28.114 | 1.927 | |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:28.148 | 1.961 | |
| 13 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:28.150 | 1.963 | |
| 14 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:28.300 | 2.113 | |
| 15 | 36 | Giedo van der Garde | Sauber | 1:28.429 | 2.242 | |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:28.487 | 2.300 | |
| 17 | 34 | Daniel Juncadella | Force India | 1:29.192 | 3.005 | |
| 18 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:29.512 | 3.325 | |
| 19 | 4 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1:30.017 | 3.830 | |
| 20 | 17 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 1:30.081 | 3.894 | |
| 21 | 30 | Charles Pic | Lotus | 1:30.125 | 3.938 | |
| 22 | 45 | Roberto Merhi | Caterham | 1:30.704 | 4.517 | |
| 23 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham | 1:30.948 | 4.761 |
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