Arthur Pic was fastest in the sole GP2 Series free practice session in Monza as the top twenty drivers were covered by less than a second.
Frenchman Pic, winner of the Hungarian Feature race at the end of July driving for Campos Racing, set a best lap time of 1:32.256s to beat Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne of ART Grand Prix by 0.178s, while championship leader Jolyon Palmer was third for DAMS.
Mitch Evans was fourth for Russian Time ahead of Stefano Coletti of Racing Engineering, with Simon Trummer an impressive sixth for Rapax. Felipe Nasr, the closest rival to Palmer in the championship, was seventh fastest for Carlin.
Spa-Francorchamps Feature race winner Raffaele Marciello was eighth in the second Racing Engineering entry, ahead of Stephane Richelmi of DAMS in ninth, while Jon Lancaster was tenth for Hilmer Motorsport.
GP2 Series Debutant Pierre Gasly had a trouble free session for EQ8 Caterham Racing and finished twenty-second as the Red Bull-backed driver came to terms with his new machinery having raced this season in the Formula Renault 3.5 series for Arden Motorsport.
The session went relatively trouble free, aside from Coletti spinning into the gravel at the Parabolica corner, and Rio Haryanto stopping his EQ8 Caterham Racing machine at the Ascari chicane.
Monza Free Practice Times
| POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Arthur Pic | FRA | Campos Racing | 1:32.256 |
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | BEL | ART Grand Prix | 1:32.434 |
| 3 | Jolyon Palmer | GBR | DAMS | 1:32.535 |
| 4 | Mitch Evans | NZL | RT Russian Time | 1:32.545 |
| 5 | Stefano Coletti | MON | Racing Engineering | 1:32.598 |
| 6 | Simon Trummer | SWI | Rapax | 1:32.651 |
| 7 | Felipe Nasr | BRZ | Carlin | 1:32.676 |
| 8 | Raffaele Marciello | ITA | Racing Engineering | 1:32.697 |
| 9 | Stephane Richelmi | MON | DAMS | 1:32.712 |
| 10 | Jon Lancaster | GBR | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:32.787 |
| 11 | Johnny Cecotto Jr | VEN | Trident Racing | 1:32.827 |
| 12 | Julian Leal | COL | Carlin | 1:32.855 |
| 13 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | GBR | Rapax | 1:32.872 |
| 14 | Rene Binder | AUT | Arden International | 1:32.905 |
| 15 | Marco Sorensen | DEN | MP Motorsport | 1:33.017 |
| 16 | Andre Negrao | BRZ | Arden International | 1:33.078 |
| 17 | Rio Haryanto | INO | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:33.136 |
| 18 | Daniel de Jong | NED | MP Motorsport | 1:33.169 |
| 19 | Nathanael Berthon | FRA | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:33.188 |
| 20 | Sergio Canamasas | ESP | Trident Racing | 1:33.214 |
| 21 | Kimiya Sato | JAP | Campos Racing | 1:33.309 |
| 22 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:33.520 |
| 23 | Takuya Izawa | JAP | ART Grand Prix | 1:33.521 |
| 24 | Artem Markelov | RUS | RT Russian Time | 1:33.641 |
| 25 | Sergio Campana | ITA | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:33.832 |
| 26 | Daniel Abt | GER | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:34.281 |
