Blue skies and sunshine at Monza as we get ready for the start of the first free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix. Who's your money on?

Alguersuari sets the new fastest lap - 1:29.779.

The Toro Rosso duo of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari go out on track together.

Chandhok radios back to the pits saying his steering wheel is not working - presumably he means some of the gadgetry on it, rather than the wheel itself, as the car is going in the right direction and seems to be steering ok.

Button is still standing in the garage, chatting casually with his physio - no sign of any imminent activity there.

Ricciardo completes a timed lap of 1:34.675 - a new fastest time, bumping d'Ambrosio off the top spot.

Ricciardo is the only car out on track at the moment, and in the pits Ferrari's Felipe Massa is out of his car and watching what his rivals are up to. At the moment, the answer is - not a lot.

HRT's Daniel Ricciardo is the latest out on track - but the major players are all still keeping their powder dry.

Fernando Alonso has been out for a spin but has yet to complete a lap. All still fairly quiet at the moment, with none of the big guns having put in a competitive lap yet.

The current fastest time so far is by Jerome D'Ambrosio, with a lap of one minute 43.577 seconds. Don't expect that to stay top of the sheets for too long.

Button has just started his first proper timed lap of the day.

Lotus's Karun Chandhok is already back in the pits after one of his mirrors fell out while out on track.

Lewis Hamilton is out of his car while the mechanics clean up and make some tweaks before he heads out.

Sebastian Vettel is out on track and Michael Schumacher is all set and ready to go, with a relaxed-looking wave for the cameras.

Button's McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton has admitted this feels like his worst year in Formula 1, so he could really do with a decent showing this weekend to boost his flagging morale.

Jenson Button is in the cockpit of his McLaren in the pits but his mechanics are working at a fairly leisurely pace so it doesn't look like he's going to be out on the track too quickly.

Team Lotus's Heikki Kovalainen is the first driver out on the track.

Only seven races to go in the championship and it's the final European round - championship leader Sebastian Vettel has a whopping 92 point lead over Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber. Air temperature is 24 degrees, 19 degrees on track.