MCLAREN DENIES PADDY LOWE RETURNING TO WOKING

McLaren has rubbished reports Mercedes' technical boss Paddy Lowe is set to leave the reigning world champions and return to Woking.

As his current contract nears an end, Briton Lowe, 54, had been linked with James Allison's old job at Ferrari.

But reports in the Italian press now suggest Lowe could in fact be returning to McLaren, where he worked for two decades until 2013.

A McLaren spokesman told GMM: "We have absolutely no plans to rehire Paddy, since we are entirely satisfied with our current senior engineering management team."

Nico Rosberg retires from Formula 1 after winning world championship

Rosberg says world championship was his dream and 'now I've made it'; Made decision a day after winning title in Abu Dhabi; Mercedes now looking for a new team-mate for Lewis Hamilton

The German driver, 31, won the title last week, beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to his first Drivers' Championship.

"When I won the race in Suzuka, from the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became world champion," said Rosberg. "On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start."

Rosberg has revealed he took the decision to quit on Monday evening, just 24 hours after sealing his maiden title in the season finale. 

Upon informing Toto Wolff, Rosberg says the Mercedes team boss "knew straight away I was completely convinced and that reassured me".

Wolff has described the decision as "brave" and "testament to the strength of his character".

The Austrian added: "He has chosen to leave at the pinnacle of his career, as world champion, having achieved his childhood dream. The clarity of his judgement meant I accepted his decision straight away when he told me."

Mercedes are yet to confirm the identity of Hamilton's 2017 team-mate. Although Pascal Wehrlein is the team's official reserve drive, the German youngster is untried at the sharp end of the F1 grid after debuting in 2016 with backmarkers Manor.

"We will take the necessary time to evaluate our options," said Wolff.

While Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have already been linked with the shock vacancy, both are under contract for one more season with McLaren and Ferrari respectively.

Rosberg only signed a two-year extension with the Silver Arrows in the summer while Sky Sports revealed earlier this week that Hamilton himself had threatened to walk away from the team midway through the year after colliding with Rosberg in the Spanish GP.

"It is absolutely extraordinary," said Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle. 

Rosberg has been with Mercedes since 2010 and debuted in Formula 1 in 2006. 

Sky F1 pundits shocked at Rosberg's decision
The only hint following his title coronation that Rosberg was considering walking away from F1 came through his reluctance to discuss what 2017 held in store and his pointed refusal to reveal whether he, as world champion, intended to use the number '1' on his car.

"My first reaction is that it's a decision that's been made in haste and as soon as we get to the New Year and he thinks about what the next chapter in his life is going to be, he's going to be bored silly, he's not going to know what to do with himself and he might well regret it," said Sky F1's Ted Kravtiz.

"In a season of F1 where we've had shocks and turning points aplenty, this one takes the biscuit."

Kravitz's shock was echoed by Sky F1 colleague Martin Brundle.

"I find it absolutely extraordinary, a big surprise," he said. "I don't know what's tormented him that much to want to call it a day right now. He does have a new family, a young family, and quite clearly he's had enough. Sometimes he has come across pretty uncomfortable within the world of media and said how he found the media quite hard. It's obviously a personal decision and it's bad for F1 because we haven't got a world champion through the winter and next season. 

"I would imagine the phone would be hot to Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda. Fernando Alonso will be desperate to grab it, I don't know where Sebastian Vettel fits.

"We had this bizarre situation where we thought Hamilton had threatened to quit back in May after they came together at the Spanish GP. Where's Lewis head at? I can't quite compute all of this because we'd all love to drive that. Your dream racing car. It can't be that bad when between you you've won 19 races. I don't know how it's that taxing. I just don't get it, why they're finding it so hard to be involved in that. I imagine Lewis is pretty gobsmacked."

FERNANDO ALONSO: “SEVENTH WAS THE MAXIMUM WE COULD ACHIEVE TODAY”

Fernando Alonso believed his seventh place finish in the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday was the maximum he could have achieved, especially with Mercedes AMG PETRONAS, Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing all having problem free races.

The McLaren-Honda driver made a good start and avoided the incidents that compromised Carlos Sainz Jr and saw Nico Hülkenberg retire to run fifth, but was unable to keep either of the Ferrari drivers behind him, ultimately setting for seventh.

Despite finishing seventh, Alonso felt McLaren were not the fourth best team this weekend around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, so it was good to be able to beat the rest of the teams for that honour with good strategy calls.

“Seventh was the maximum we could achieve today – the best of the rest after the two Mercedes, the two Red Bulls and the two Ferraris,” said Alonso. “We weren’t perhaps quite the fourth-fastest team here this weekend, so it’s thanks to good strategy and a good start that we were able to bring home this result.

“I chose to go on the outside at the start, and the crash didn’t affect me as I was already up into sixth at that point. Then I braked very late for the first corner and got past Daniil [Kvyat] and Kimi [Raikkonen]. Everything went fine – sometimes you just need to get lucky.

“For a time, I was even hoping for a podium finish – if something had happened ahead of me it could have worked out that way – but in fact it was one of those races in which nothing happened at the front. But, overall, we did the best we could today.”

Vettel ‘can’t promise’ timeframe for Ferrari wins

Sebastian Vettel admits he ‘cannot make promises’ as to when Ferrari will return to winning ways, despite the German finishing a strong third at the Italian Grand Prix.

Vettel enjoyed a great launch from P3 on the grid and came close to leading into the first corner, as he had done previously this season in Australia and Canada. But as Lewis Hamilton recovered to second after his poor start, the Ferrari driver had to settle for the final step of the podium.

“We try and we are working very hard,” said Vettel, who had not finished in the top three since last June’s European Grand Prix in Baku.

“[Mercedes] are doing a very good job so you have to say well done to them and show them the respect for what they have achieved in the last couple of years but we are fighting.

“I’m sure we can comeback. I can’t make any promises about when but I know that we will. We will keep it up and keep believing and I am sure we will succeed.”

Having started on the supersoft compound, Vettel went for an aggressive two-stop strategy that left him on fresher tyres at the end of the race but the four-time world champion concedes he could not reel in the one-stopping Hamilton.

“[Lewis] did one stop less so it was clear that after our second stop he would be ahead of us and I think the problem is that he was too far ahead of us, simple as that.

“We were slightly quicker, we were on a fresher set of tyres but not quick enough to really catch up. At the end, the gap was still fairly big.”

Vettel won three races in 2015 for his first year with Ferrari, the last of which came at Singapore nearly 12 months ago

Hamilton: I don't know what happened at the start

Lewis Hamilton says he has no idea what happened at the start of the Italian Grand Prix after his terrible getaway cost him all chances of victory.

The Mercedes driver had dominated qualifying, beating teammate Nico Rosberg by nearly half a second, but made a very poor start from pole.

Hamilton dropped to sixth place before the first chicane and had to fight his way back to the front.

The world champion conceded all his chances were gone after the start.

"Obviously it was lost at the start," said Hamilton. "I knew that my engineers would be worried or nervous of how the start went, so that is why I tried to put their mind at ease.

"I don't know what happened. I will try to understand it later. I did everything normal. I did sequence exactly the same, I think I just got lots of wheelspin. A bit like Nico's start in Hockenheim.

"We have a relatively inconsistent clutch. In the past they told you the clutch temp and was easier to hit targets. Now it's a lot less easy to know what the clutch will be delivering or won't.

Hamilton managed to climb up to second place, but the time lost meant Rosberg was untroubled, cruising to his first victory at Monza.

"I could see Nico pulling away, and while anything can happen, the chances of the win decreased lap by lap, second by second,"Hamilton added.

"I knew in the early stages that winning the race was not possible, but I could try. I got up to second and that is the best I could do.

"It's hard to overtake here. We live to fight another day."

Today's result means Hamilton leads the championship by just two points from Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg wins Italian GP after Lewis Hamilton's poor start

Nico Rosberg won the Italian Grand Prix virtually unchallenged Sunday after Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton wasted pole position with a poor start.

Hamilton got off the line at the same time as the other cars but immediately fell behind, dropping to sixth before the first corner.

Rosberg, who started second, took the early lead and cruised to his seventh win of the season, second straight this year and first of his career at the storied Monza circuit, which has hosted more Formula One racing than any other track.

Rosberg also cut Hamilton's championship lead to two points with seven races remaining.

Hamilton climbed his way back to finish second.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen crossed third and fourth, respectively.

Rosberg celebrated with a series of fist pumps when he got out of his car, playfully jabbing at a TV camera. Then he jumped into a group of his team members who hoisted him into the air.

Already fastest in qualifying, Mercedes' single pit-stop strategy proved better than Ferrari's two-stop plan.

It was the 21st win of Rosberg's career.

After his disastrous start, Hamilton quickly charged up the field, passing Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull and overtaking Valtteri Bottas' Williams on the main straight.

Hamilton then went ahead of the Ferraris after their second pit stops,

Pushing hard to catch Rosberg in the final laps, Hamilton's wheels locked up at the first chicane and he bounced across the speed bumps, costing him more than a second.

Rosberg's winning margin over Hamilton was 15 seconds, with Vettel 20 seconds behind and Raikkonen 27 seconds back.

Ricciardo finished fifth and Bottas crossed sixth.

Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.

On a hazy late summer day, red-clad Ferrari fans lined the entire track, with banners dedicated to current and former drivers.

``Michael, All our thoughts for you and your family,'' read one banner dedicated to seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, who remains in secluded recovery from serious head injuries he suffered in a skiing accident in December 2013.

``You cannot describe the passion, you can only live it,'' read another banner.

During the singing of the national anthem, fighter jets flew over the main straight, coloring the sky in the green, white and red of the Italian flag.

Soon after the start Jolyon Palmer in a Renault and Felipe Nasr in a Sauber made contact, sending both cars back to the pits with damage. Palmer retired, while Nasr came back out briefly to serve a 10-second penalty for causing the accident.

Daniil Kyvat's Toro Rosso and Pascal Wehrlein's Manor also ran into trouble and retired midway through the race.

Next up is the Singapore GP in two weeks.

Jenson Button to retire from Formula One at the end of the season

Jenson Button will retire from Formula One at the end of the season.

The 2009 world champion made the announcement after qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix this afternoon.

Button will be replaced at McLaren by Belgian youngster Stoffel Vandoorne.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will bring to an end a glittering career that has seen Button win 15 Grands Prix.

The Frome racer will remain at McLaren beyond the end of the season as an ambassador for the team. It remains to be seen whether he will continue to race in another series outside of F1.

Button's retirement also brings to an end rumours that he would switch to the Williams team for 2017 and rejoin the outfit that gave him his break in Formula One back in 2000.

Perez says he will stay at Force India

Sergio Perez says he intends to remain at Force India amid speculation over who he might drive for next year.

Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya claimed during the British Grand Prix weekend both his drivers will remain with them next year but Perez subsequently said he could switch teams.

However at Monza team COO Otmar Szafnauer reiterated that Perez will not be joining another team, which the driver confirmed after qualifying.

“I’ve been saying the last month or so that I’m very happy where I am,” he said. “I already make up my mind so I think what Otmar says is quite correct.”

Perez will started tomorrow’s race from eighth place after Force India couldn’t match the pace of Williams in qualifying.

“We haven’t had the pace all weekend,” he admitted. “For some reason they seem to be quicker. Haas was quicker than us today.”

“Williams obviously have a big margin quicker than us. So we’re not where we would have liked to be but in the end I think we maximised the full potential we both had which is very important and hopefully tomorrow we can have a strong race, strong strategy and try to get the Williams.”

Vettel: Mercedes drivers ‘in a world of their own’ in Monza qualifying

Sebastian Vettel was content with third place in Formula 1 qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, believing Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to be “in a world of their own” on Saturday afternoon at Monza.

Vettel led Ferrari’s charge on Saturday, putting the team’s newly-upgraded power unit to good use by qualifying third ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Despite locking out the second row for its home race, Ferrari was left some eight-tenths of a second adrift of pole-man Hamilton. Nevertheless, Vettel was pleased with his efforts.

“I wasn’t that happy with the first shot in Q3. I sort of lost the rhythm a bit, then was able to get it back,” Vettel explained.

“I had a good lap, then went on the limit on the last corner, I actually lost and was a bit late on throttle. I think the lap itself, after not a great start, not a great first sector, where we are still losing out compared to Q2, I brought it back in sectors two and three.”

Vettel admitted he felt disappointed by the gap to Mercedes, but conceded the Silver Arrows were unbeatable at Monza.

“Very happy for us to lock out the second row as a team,” Vettel said.

“Not entirely happy because the gap is quite big to those guys ahead. They were in a world of their own today.”

Vettel also paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Ferrari fans who filled the grandstands at Monza on Saturday.

“It is so great to see we have so much support. I think last year was already phenomenal and this year it seems so much better,” Vettel said.

“Every out lap you do, people stand up and wave, you see so many flags. The support we get around here is massive.

“Big thanks to everyone all around the track to the Tifosi. Hopefully we can give something back to them tomorrow.”

Hamilton, Mercedes On Pole!

Lewis owns Monza, Ferrari impotent. Lewis Hamilton and his No. 44 Mercedes easily took pole for the 2016 Italian Grand Prix at the legendary Monza circuit with a lap of 1:21.135. It is his seventh pole of the year, and 56th of his career. Hamilton is third on the all-time Pole list, nine behind Ayrton Senna. It is also Hamilton's fourth Italian Grand Prix pole in five years. All three previous poles have led to victory. 

For Mercedes, it is the team's 12th Pole of the season. 

Nico Rosberg just can't keep up at Monza. He was a half second back. He will start on the front row, but clearly is slow compared to Hamilton. 

Behind, Ferrari engine upgrades still couldn't keep up with Mercedes. The team has proven completely incapable of catching Mercedes this season, and even at their home track they have failed. 

Sebastian Vettel still start third for Ferrari, but a woeful eight tenths back. Kimi Raikkonen cleaned up row two. 

Valtteri Bottas (Williams) rounded out the top-five qualifiers. 

Q1 Recap 

A horrible showing from 10 teams in the opening Q1 qualifying made their efforts nearly pointless. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg strapped on the supersofts and no other car or driver combination could get within 1.2 seconds. Pathetic results on such a short circuit. 

Esteban Ocon (Manor) at least had a reason to be slow. His car brought out the only yellow of the session after stopping at the first chicane. 

KO'd in Q1: Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Felipe Nasr (Sauber), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Jolyon Palmer (Renault), Kevin Magnussen (Renault), Esteban Ocon (Manor). 

Q2 Recap 

For Q2, the two Mercedes went to the soft tyre - the tyre they would want to start the race on - and the rest of the field helplessly tried to get close. 

Sebastian Vettel got within eight tenths of Mercedes after using supersofts in Q2, but at the front Lewis Hamilton using softs was easily out front at 1:21.498. 

Red Bull attempted to give the soft strategy a shot, but after runs that put their cars ninth and tenth, the team opted for supersofts to secure their positions in Q3. It would turn out to be the correct call from the pit wall. 

KO'd in Q2: Felipe Massa (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Haas), Fernando Alonso (McLaren Honda), Pascal Wehrlein (Manor), Jenson Button (McLaren Honda), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso). 

Q3 Recap 

Hamilton romped to Pole. 'Nuff said. 

Next up, the 2016 Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Grosjean to take grid penalty for gearbox change

Romain Grosjean will receive a five-place grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix after changing his gearbox

The Haas driver experienced a gearbox problem during final practice and has to fit a replacement unit before the existing one has completed the required six consecutive events.

This will be Grosjean’s second gearbox change penalty so far this season, having also received one at the German Grand Prix.

The penalty comes at a track where Haas has performed strongly so far this weekend. Esteban Gutierrez set the tenth-fastest time in final practice after Grosjean’s stoppage.

Ferrari racing new engine at Monza

Ferrari has spent the last of its in-season performance 'tokens' with its Monza engine upgrade.

"I think it's really too early to see what will be the benefit," said new technical boss Mattia Binotto.

Driver Kimi Raikkonen added: "The development is not huge, but it's the right direction."

Alonso 'satisfied' with Honda progress - Sainz

Carlos Sainz says he can sense the optimism in his friend and countryman Fernando Alonso.

Sainz, who drives for Toro Rosso, says McLaren's Honda power unit has now overtaken the 2015-spec Ferrari that he uses.

"Definitely," he said at Monza.

"Honda is yet to reach the level of Renault," said Sainz, "but they're close. You can see it on Fernando's face as well.

"I've known him for a long time, and I can easily tell when he is satisfied with how things are going."

Mercedes-powered Force India driver Sergio Perez agreed: "I am quite surprised by their speed here. In the future, they may become a strong contender."

Vettel: F1 needed to secure Monza future

MONZA, Italy -- Sebastian Vettel labelled Monza's contract renewal "fantastic news" after it was confirmed the iconic venue will remain Italin Grand Prix host until at least 2019.

Monza's future has been the subject of much speculation this year, with lengthy negotiations between Bernie Ecclestone and the Automobile Club d'Italia. Imola had previously been mooted as a replacement for the Italian Grand Prix but Vettel, set for his second one as a Ferrari driver this weekend, thinks there is no other place which can host the race.

Told about the renewal after FP2, Vettel said: "That's fantastic news. I think we all love this track. Obviously I've raced in red and I've raced in different colours, it's the best to race in red obviously. But ignoring that for a second it's a fantastic track, it's a fantastic atmosphere."

Vettel thinks Monza should remain on the race track even if it means the commercial rights holder fails to match the fees paid by others.

"We need this track on the calendar and therefore that's excellent news, even if I don't know how much tracks are paying these days but we should even race here if -- now I'm going to get myself in trouble -- but even with a bad deal for whoever is cashing in, Monza has to stay on the calendar because it means more than just cash. It means history, tradition, racing, enthusiasm, Ferrari, so there's a lot of reasons why we should come here."

Vettel's enthusiasm for the new deal was echoed by reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who believes F1 would not be the same without Monza, which has been on the calendar for every season bar one (1980) since the inaugural world championship in 1950.

"I'm so happy.," Hamilton said about the new deal "We can't ever lose this track; to see the fans here and the track is phenomenal, so unique. This is part of the heritage of the sport, and if you lose this grand prix you lose a very big part of what F1 is."

Max Verstappen slams Jacques Villeneuve after criticism

Max Verstappen has hit back with fury at criticism from 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.

After the 18-year-old Red Bull driver's controversial duel with Kimi Raikkonen at Spa, commentator Villeneuve said that Verstappen should tone it down or risk killing a rival.

"He should watch his statement that someone could die," the Dutch broadcaster NOS quotes him as saying. "He himself has killed someone."

Verstappen is probably referring to 2001, when an airborne crash in Melbourne involved a rear wheel detaching, striking and killing a marshal.

F1 race director Charlie Whiting reportedly took Verstappen aside at Monza and warned him about his aggression.

"We talked a bit about what happened in the last race," Verstappen admitted, according to De Telegraafnewspaper. "I'd rather it was alone with Charlie than with the media or the briefing with the drivers."

Verstappen's driving has been a hot topic at Monza, with even former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore asked about it by Italy's Mediaset outlet.

"If I was his manager, I would tell him to always do the same thing," he said.

Verstappen sits sixth in the standings ahead of tomorrow's race.

Lewis Hamilton continues to dominate in Monza's final practice

Lewis Hamilton continued his domination of the Italian Grand Prix weekend by setting a stunning pace to top the final practice session.

Hamilton set an amazing 1m 22.008 time on his Monza qualifying simulation run, which was close to four tenths quicker than Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg's mark set moments earlier. Hamilton's time also was some 1.39 seconds faster than his pole time here last season, albeit then the supersoft tyre was not available.

Hamilton topped the times after the initial runs too, in his case set on the soft tyre, and was close to half a second faster than Rosberg also on the softs, who was pipped indeed at that stage by Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari. Rosberg had however been blocked by Max Verstappen at the second chicane on what was likely his quickest lap in that run.

Ferrari and Vettel continued to be best of the rest, although Vettel's 1m 22.946 was close to a second over Hamilton's pace. His team mate Kimi Raikkonen ws next up, a couple of tenths off Vettel with a 1m 23.149.

The Williams pair had a strong session and were next up in the order. Valtteri Bottas finished up fifth with a 1m 23.500 and Felipe Massa sixth with a 1m 23.647 mark.

After them it was the Red Bull pair who again appeared to struggle for lap time - Daniel Ricciardo in P7 and Verstappen in P8 had best laps more than 1.7 seconds off the pace.

Sergio Perez in the Force India and Esteban Gutierrez in the Haas completed the top ten. The session was a short one for Gutierrez's team mate Romain Grosjean however, who spun early in the hour at the Ascari chicane having completed only four laps. His best time still was good enough for P14.

Italy - Practice 3 Result:

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari
5	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes
6	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes
7	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
9	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes
10	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas-Ferrari
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes
12	Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda
13	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari
15	Jolyon Palmer	Renault
16	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari
17	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda
18	Felipe Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari
19	Kevin Magnussen	Renault
20	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Ferrari
21	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor-Mercedes
22	Esteban Ocon	Manor-Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel says there is more to come from 'OK' Ferrari

After the first day of practice running for the Italian Grand Prix, in which Ferrari ran an upgraded power unit, Sebastian Vettel said the Ferrari's performance was "OK" but also that there is more to come.

"We are not going round to have a cup of coffee" said the German after finishing the second Friday practice session in third place behind the two Mercedes, just under half a second off the pace. "Obviously we're trying a lot of things on Friday, different things, full beans, not full beans. On Friday it's always difficult.

"It felt OK nevertheless, but the feeling's not yet right, we need to look at the car and find some performance.

"I think we can do more, I think we can improve from where we are."

Vettel suggested too that the improvement in the rest of the weekend would be found in the car as well as the new power unit. "The car feels good, we just need to make it feel good in every corner and bring it together. But other than that the first impressions are positive."

"It's [the engine is] doing what it's supposed to do so that's positive - obviously on Friday you try a lot of different things. You need to wait a little bit more, tomorrow, Sunday [to find out how competitive the engine is].

"It's Friday after all so it's not the most important part of the weekend, but it's important that we ran and I think we got a decent speed."

Vettel however was cautious on the prospect of getting on terms with Mercedes this weekend. "We can see the Mercedes is very good, very strong, similar to last year. They seem to be very competitive around here.

"[But] we focus on ourselves."

FERRARI F1 DRIVERS ENCOURAGED BY ENGINE UPGRADE FOR ITALIAN GP

Sebastian Vettel believes Ferrari's final Formula 1 engine upgrade of the season for the Italian Grand Prix has made a positive start after the opening day of Monza practice.

Ferrari spent its three remaining development tokens on an engine upgrade ahead of its home race, and it ended Friday's practice running with comfortably the second fastest car behind Mercedes, and ahead of Red Bull.

"It's a new engine, it's doing what it's supposed to, so that is positive," said Vettel.

"On Friday you try lots of different things. We'll see a bit more tomorrow.

"We've had worse Fridays. Mercedes is looking very strong, but we can focus on ourselves and we can do a good job."

Vettel finished FP2 just 0.453s off the pace set by Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes, and he believes Ferrari has some refining to do to get even closer over the weekend.

"The feeling is not yet right, we need to adjust the car to find some performance," Vettel added.

"We've done a bit, we can do more, we can improve on where we are.

"We have a decent speed, and we can take more out of the car.

"It feels good - the first impression is good. We just need to make it feel good in every corner."

Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who finished the session 0.6s adrift of Hamilton, had his FP2 programme disrupted by a cut to a set of tyres, but he was happy with Ferrari's day overall.

"There are always things to improve but the car is feeling pretty OK," said Raikkonen.

"The first practice was quite good, the second was a bit messy with tyres and yellow flags.

"We have to check if [the engine] can improve our performance but it's normal progress really.

"It's a small thing but it's in the right direction. Overall it was not too bad."

Verstappen: Hard for Red Bull to beat Ferrari

Max Verstappen admits that it will be difficult for Red Bull to beat Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix, given the nature of the Monza circuit.

Red Bull, powered by Renault, is still lacking straightline speed, and finished a distant fifth and sixth in Friday's second free practice session.

Verstappen trailed the pace-setting Mercedes duo by around a second, and was three tenths away from the closest Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen.

Red Bull recently overtook Ferrari for second in the standings, but Verstappen feels it will be damage limitation for his team this weekend.

"We know this is going to be a more difficult weekend for us; we're not too bad, it's just difficult," Verstappen explained to media after the first two practice sessions.

"We have to run [low downforce], otherwise there is no top speed, but we found a good balance between the sectors now, so it's up to us to improve the car a bit more.

"It will be tougher than Spa, I think you can see that."

Pushed on the gap to Ferrari, he said: "We're a little bit too far behind; maybe if we get everything better sorted for tomorrow we can be closer, but they looked very strong.

"It will be hard to beat them, but we're going to give it a try."

Verstappen was also asked about his meeting with FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting in the paddock on Friday morning, following criticism of his driving at the Belgian Grand Prix.

"We had a chat about what happened [during the race at Spa-Francorchamps]; I prefer to do it with Charlie, instead of in media or in the drivers' meeting," he commented.

"Spa is now gone, we're in Monza, so we just focus on Monza."