Formula 1

Without denying himself future opportunities for podiums, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg certainly believes that he will struggle to get his W01 past the Renault's and the other top three teams.

"It's definitely becoming more and more difficult because (based on) pure pace we're going to struggle to get a podium I think," Rosberd told 'ITV'.

Following the accident with Sebastian Vettel at the Belgian GP, Jenson Button hasn't had a change of thought and still finds the Red Bull driver at fault for shunting him out of the race and a second place finish. Yet he feels like the drivers championship is still wide open despite being 35 points behind his teammate.

Looking back at the Belgian GP Felipe Massa and the rest of the Ferrari crew have the right to feel let down by their performance, as they had been on an upswing and Fernando Alonso was topping the timesheets in all of the free practices, until Webber took over from qualification onwards.

F1's tyre supplier for the upcoming year is back to work as it carries out another test session in a Toyota TF109 at France's Paul Ricard Circuit. Nick Heidfeld had the opportunity to run the test circuits high speed configuration, and was greeted by nice 28 degree weather.

Work in preparation for the Italian Grand Prix is continuing unabated. Yesterday, Felipe Massa was in Maranello for a series of meetings with his engineers, as well as a session on the simulator. Meanwhile, today at Vairano, Giancarlo Fisichella got one of the rare opportunities this season to drive the F10, even if it was just down a straight.

Having qualified and finished in third place at the Belgian GP, Renault's Robert Kubica is more than motivated as he finds himself in situation where he can fight against the top three teams. The only blip in the previous weekend was an overshotting of the pit itself, allowing Mark Webber to steal second place.