In another punt at his team, Stoffel Vandoorne has criticised the lack of development by McLaren this season, suggesting they haven't moved forward since Australia.

The Belgian is under increasing pressure to perform if he wants to retain his seat in 2019 with junior driver Lando Norris completing another Friday practice outing at Monza and both Force India drivers linked to his seat.

However, offering his own defence, the 26-year-old believes there is little he can do with the car he has following another tough weekend in Spa where he finished last in every session.

“It’s difficult to get a worse weekend. We’ve seen the performance we have is very far away from being good. There’s not really an explanation," he said of his home Grand Prix a week ago.

“The reality is we haven’t progressed since the start of the year, we haven’t progressed at all compared to the others.

"After winter testing we were promised a lot of developments that never happened. Australia was our best race and ever since we're just going backwards."

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Expectations remain low for this weekend in Italy and the recent open criticism of McLaren indicates to some that perhaps Vandoorne knows he is on borrowed team, the man himself disagrees.

"Yes, because things can evolve," he said on if he thought staying was still possible. "It is not the same person who will design the car in the future."

This despite his exit possibly coming as soon as Singapore or Sochi with rumours he will be replaced by whoever is ousted at Force India to accommodate Lance Stroll.

Sauber team boss Fred Vasseur is not considering offering Stoffel Vandoorne a seat in 2019, should he get the axe at McLaren.

The Belgian has struggled to make an impact in season and a half he has had alongside Fernando Alonso and as a result, has put him under pressure with junior driver Lando Norris and both Force India drivers reportedly being considered.

If he is dropped, it was though Vasseur, who was team boss at ART when Stoffel won the GP2 championship in 2015 and highly rates him, could make an attempt to offer the 26-year-old an F1 lifeline.

“He’s not in the discussions,” the Frenchman told Motorsport.com.

“Honestly we are in the middle of the season and even if everybody is a bit upset and a bit nervous on the drivers’ market, if you compare with previous years, I think everybody is much earlier. So we stay calm.”

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The situation at Sauber does make accommodating tricky with one seat reserved for a Ferrari junior and Marcus Ericsson linked to owners Longbow Finance as well as impressing his current boss.

“He’s doing a good job,” Vasseur said. “He was one-hundredth behind Charles in qualifying with an engine issue.

“In the race, he had a strong pace from the beginning, the strategy was the opposite to the guy in front of us. Marcus did well.

“The best way to keep the position and the place for every single driver in the paddock is to do a good job, and he’s doing it.”

Sergio Perez took advantage of drying conditions to set the fastest lap of the opening practice session at the Italian Grand Prix.

Heavy thunderstorms in the morning had led to flooding in some parts of the Monza paddock and pit-lane but after an inspection, the FIA gave the go-ahead for drivers to head out onto the circuit.

Immediately, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg headed out on full wet tyres but the Red Bull driver, running the new Spec 3 engine from the French manufacturer, would slow down through the Lesmo bends as a software issue triggered a safe mode.

After a quick reset, the Australian was able to head back out and ran uninterrupted for the remainder of the session.

Despite the very wet conditions with standing water in many places, Kimi Raikkonen opted to head out on intermediates much earlier than many expected as lap times matched the 1m35s that Lewis Hamilton set for pole in the rain last year.

Max Verstappen is a driver expected to excel in the wet but would have a half spin at Parabolica as he too headed out on intermediates just as another shower passed over the circuit.

Despite forecasts for more heavy rain, it would ease with just a few drops allowing for the track to dry out, allowing for much more running than expected.

A notable absentee though would be Sebastian Vettel as a gearbox problem left the German stuck in the garage after just four laps.

Around halfway through, the Mercedes' headed out and showed the same advantage in the wet they have shown at the last three races by heading to the top of the timesheets with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Hamilton.

That would be the only run the pair would have, however, completing eight and six laps respectively.

With a drier line appearing, it was Verstappen who jumped to the front ahead of the two Renault's as Carlos Sainz led Nico Hulkenberg.

There was then shades of 2008 as the two Toro Rosso's moved to the front with Brendon Hartley fastest and Pierre Gasly third, just behind the man he'll be replacing next season, Daniel Ricciardo.

As they returned to the pits, the final minutes would then see Kimi Raikkonen and the two Force India's trade fastest laps.

It would appear the Finn had the upper hand but only a mistake at Parabolica saw Esteban Ocon finish 0.043s behind in what would become third.

That's because Perez with the last lap of the morning posted a 1m34.000s to jump over half a second clear of the field.

A full look at the times from Practice 1 can be seen below:

Lewis Hamilton has backed Daniel Ricciardo's decision to join Renault in 2019, calling the move "brave".

Before making the choice that shocked the Formula 1 paddock, the Australian pointed to Hamilton's own switch from a perceived top team at McLaren to a strong midfield team at Mercedes in 2013 as inspiration.

While many have pointed out the risks are likely a lot less in his case, as Mercedes was building towards 2014 and the hybrid era, Hamilton does see the positives in trying something different.

“I’m really happy for him,” said the 33-year-old. “It’s always brave to make a decision that’s out of the norm, knowing that people are going to have opinions about it, and still halfway through a season not knowing how the next year’s going to go.

“It’s an exciting period for him. A lot of people in life are scared of change, of what’s different, and therefore get stuck in a space that’s not their happiest space but they get by.

“It’s cool to see that Daniel, similar to me, is wanting to elevate himself, wanting to try something new, and learn from it – good or bad, and take the risk.”

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• Horner: Ricciardo had requested Red Bull contract in front of him
• Abiteboul: Renault has not made any special promises to Ricciardo
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Ricciardo will be partnering Nico Hulkenberg at the French manufacturer and one man who has plenty of experience alongside him is Sergio Perez following their time together at Force India.

Commenting on the current Red Bull driver's call, the Mexican believes it is a testament to those teams not among the 'big three'.

The Ricciardo to Renault [move] is quite an interesting one," he was quoted by F1i.com. "I think… to have someone like him in the midfield will just show how strong the midfield is at the moment.

"I think if things stay the same for next year, and the midfield is so close together, he’s going to enjoy a lot of competitive [battles].

"It will be interesting to see him with Hulkenberg as well because I think he’s going to have a hard time there with Nico."

Last weekend at Spa it was Red Bull and now Fernando Alonso claims he rejected the chance to join Renault in 2019.

The Spaniard confirmed during the summer break that he will be leaving the Formula 1 grid at the end of the season and is set to race in IndyCar, although still unconfirmed.

Before he does though, the double world champion appears to be making it clear he wasn't short of options to remain next season, including at the team where he won his two world titles in 2005 and 2006.

“I had the possibility of joining Renault and going back to my two championship team having my last years with my second family there,” Alonso told Sky Sports F1.

“But it was difficult to get the challenge there, fighting for the top six or top ten, compared to the challenges l can get outside of F1.

“It’s no secret that the triple crown is attractive to me. Those are a little bit more attractive at the moment.”

In response, Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul suggested the rejection had in fact been the other way around.

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“Frankly, despite the fact that I have huge respect for Fernando, who is probably one of the best drivers in the world, the answer is no,” he told Crash.Net.

“We could feel that he is at the point in his career where he wants a car that is immediately capable of going in for wins. That’s what he’s expecting, or there is going to be more frustration. We are not in that position.

“We need to have drivers who can understand the project, who can buy into a support the project on a long-term basis. I don’t think this is what Fernando was looking for. So the short answer is no.”

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has indicated the team could start favouring Lewis Hamilton in his title battle against Sebastian Vettel from the Singapore GP.

Currently, the Briton sits 17 points ahead of the Ferrari driver but the momentum is swinging in the German's favour after victory at Spa-Francorchamps in a car that does appear superior to the Silver Arrow at this stage of the season.

Bottas sits in fourth place 87 points behind his teammate and with just seven races to go after the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, the Austrian admits a tough decision is likely to be made.

"I hate to do that," Wolff was quoted by F1i.com. "It's completely against my racing instinct. We try to be very neutral to both drivers.

"Let's see how Monza pans out and how it goes. Then we will address the question as to whether we need to put all force behind one driver.

"But at the moment, we owe it to the two men and to Formula 1 to not interfere in the race."

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• Wolff: Mercedes hit by "double-whammy" of weaknesses vs. Ferrari at Spa

Despite the claims of total parity between Hamilton and Bottas, Mercedes did ask the Finn to hold station at Hockenheim and suspicions were raised after Wolff described the 28-year-old as a "sensational wingman" after the Hungarian GP.  

"We haven't done it [team orders]. We haven't done it yet. We haven't discussed it," he insisted.

Sebastian Vettel is hoping renewed success for Ferrari can rekindle Italy's love for Formula 1 and save the Grand Prix at Monza.

Decreasing attendances and higher costs have left the race at the sport's most historic venue at a crossroads with the 2019 race potentially the last.

As is the case in Germany, maintaining interest was tricky after the ultra-successful era of Michael Schumacher and the Scuderia but Ferrari haven't won in front of the Tifosi for eight years.

"I don’t think the car was there right from the beginning [of the season], but I think we’ve got it now to a point where it seems to work everywhere and we are competitive," Vettel said after Spa.

“So I hope it helps Monza to boost the race. I’m sure we will get a lot of support, but I also hope it helps Monza stay on the calendar for a long time because I heard some rumors, so…

“I’m looking forward to going to Italy. Obviously, I spend quite a bit of time there, but racing in Italy is special for us with Ferrari. It’s our home race so it should be a lot of fun," he added.

“I think it will be nice anyway to go to Monza. If you are dressed in the right colour – which I am – then I think Monza is always an absolute highlight. As a racing driver, I don’t think it gets any better than that.

“Now maybe with a win [at Spa] just a week before the race, maybe it does get better. I’m curious. But for us it’s a great race.”

The week didn't quite off to the ideal start though, with Vettel crashing into the barrier during a show run in Milan on Wednesday.

Let's hope that's the only blemish he'll have over the Grand Prix weekend.

Max Verstappen has admitted it will be 2020 before he can realistically expect to challenge for the Formula 1 title with a Red Bull-Honda car.

There is a lot of optimism around the Milton Keynes outfit over the potential of the Japanese manufacturer based on the gains they have made with Toro Rosso this season.

However, aware that their engine is still some way off the performance of Ferrari and Mercedes, the Dutchman is aware to close that gap will take some time.

"Everyone wants that, but in F1 that’s a tricky thing," he told Holland's Ziggo Sport about a 2019 title bid.

"At first we will need to take some more steps, but hopefully at the end [of next season], we will be close. The year after, we should be out in full force."

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The 20-year-old is impressed by what he has seen from Honda so far as they prepare for their new partnership.

"All in all, Honda is a much more serious candidate. They have already been on the test rig and want a lot of gearboxes from us to prepare themselves for the coming year," he revealed.

"They are enormously driven and want to do thousands of miles on the test rig.

"Looking at where they came from the last couple of years, they have advanced considerably," he added. "You very rarely see something get broken. The most important thing is that they want to take things to the limit.

"They have the means, which is very important if you want to take on the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes."

Despite declaring himself "ready" to step up, Robert Kubica is not likely to be called up should Lance Stroll leave Williams before the end of this season.

As the current reserve and development driver, it would have made sense to believe the Pole, who is aiming to race for the first time since 2010, would be the man selected to replace the Canadian.

However, as the British team get set to lose title sponsor Martini and the investment of Lance's father Lawrence, money is set to stand between Kubica and his wish once again.

Instead, F2 driver Artem Markelov and GP3 racer Nikita Mazepin are both on the sidelines with some Russian backing to offer in addition to that currently coming from Sergey Sirotkin.

Mazepin likely has the deepest pocket with his own billionaire father that tried to buy Force India while Markelov is more talented with victories in the F1 feeder series.

Williams have been accused of chasing money before, both with Stroll and Sirotkin, but deputy boss Claire Williams insists the seats won't just go to the highest bidder because of a pending financial crisis.

"Lawrence Stroll was not a major investor," she claimed. "Williams existed in F1 38 years before Lawrence joined us, and we'll be here for many more years after he goes."

Lance Stroll has hit back at those who believe his pending move to Force India is only because his father Lawrence is now the owner of the team.

The Canadian is expected to leave Williams to join the Silverstone squad potentially from the Singapore Grand Prix and was at the factory for what was thought to be a seat-fitting on Tuesday.

When he does, Esteban Ocon is thought to be the driver he will replace and that hasn't sat well with anyone, including Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel who defended him at Spa.

However, the 19-year-old insists the perception being created is not is totally reflective of the actual situation, even if Ocon is the likely victim.

"I’m not arguing that point, but my results and what I’ve done in the past should have been acknowledged a little bit more," he said in an interview with The Telegraph.

"It’s very harsh. Sometimes a footballer has more ability, potentially, than another. It just happens to be that one gets thrown in a shitty club, and another with less ability gets a great pay cheque at a better club.

"I’m not disagreeing that the system isn’t entirely fair all the time but I deserve more than just mention of the money that’s behind me. And it’s not entirely my father."

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Stroll has achieved success in every category he has raced in, including a dominant European F3 championship in 2016 and others have pointed to his championship result last year, finishing just three points behind Felipe Massa.

And he concluded by suggesting the furore around his own future is masking the potential Force India now has with his father in charge.

"Potentially, my father buying this team can make it a much better team, much more competitive. It’s not, in my eyes, a big negative," he said.

"From Esteban’s point of view, it’s triggered towards me because of my father’s involvement in Force India. Drivers from certain backgrounds will have their view on how things should be. Drivers with financial backing will think otherwise.

"If he takes me to Force India, that’s his choice, and I understand that for Esteban, that might not be great or fair, but I think that I deserve to be recognised more for the results I’ve achieved. I wanted to get that off my chest."