Despite starting at the back of the grid for the Italian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen & Red Bull see hope in the uncertain weather.

Both of Friday's practice sessions were interrupted by rain and while qualifying day is expected to see more traditional sunshine, more rain is threatening to return on Sunday.

Regardless of what the sky does though, Verstappen admits he is looking forward to making use of Honda's new Spec 4 engine to come through the field.

"I'm actually really excited," he told Sky Sports.

"Of course we have to start from the back and do some overtaking, but in general when you look at it I think this track is going to be a struggle for us because of the straight-line speed Ferrari has, and Mercedes, of course, is more powerful on the straights than us.

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"I think realistically, maybe you can fight Mercedes if you start up there but it's still going to be hard. So why not take a penalty, start from the back and try and come through to fifth. Maybe a bit of rain on Sunday would be nice."

Red Bull boss Christian Horner agreed, suggesting if conditions were wet that could bring any possibility back into the equation.

"Here you can overtake so if we have a little bit of weather like there was in Practice 1, which the forecast is saying could be around late Sunday morning… if that front is a bit delayed, anything can happen," he also told the British broadcaster.

"This is a track that we've chosen to take the penalty, it's not because we have to, we've chosen to take it here strategically as you can overtake."

And Horner is also encouraged by the additional performance that is expected from Honda's latest engine upgrade.

"What they see on the dyno absolutely has delivered previously," he said.

"We haven't run it in any aggressive mode during practice so far, but I think what they saw in the Toro Rosso last weekend was really encouraging.

"We've got no doubt it'll carry through into the engines we use here this weekend."