Sep.7 (GMM) Fernando Alonso's Monza weekend got off to a less than ideal start on Friday morning.

Before setting a laptime in the early stages of the initial 90-minute practice session on the scene of Sunday's Italian grand prix, the Spaniard encountered apparently a raft of problems aboard his McLaren MP4-22.

The reigning world champion, who is five points behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' championship, reported back to his engineers after a slow installation lap that he encountered problems with his power steering and other systems.

Trackside, the car could be heard making odd-sounding mechanical noises.

An hour into the session, 26-year-old Alonso had not re-emerged from the pits.