McLaren are to formally decide "early this month" whether Honda or Renault will supply their 2018 engines, Executive Director Zak Brown has confirmed.

The Woking outfit is seeking a divorce from the Japanese manufacturer after growing tired of their ongoing struggles.

The team held talks with Renault bosses Cyril Abiteboul, Alain Prost and Jerome Stoll on Friday in Monza after being rejected by Mercedes and Ferrari.

With rivals now beginning to develop their 2018 challengers, it is imperative McLaren finalise their engine plans in the coming weeks. 

"This is the month we decide, probably early this month, is the time we're going to take a decision on our direction for next year," Brown confirmed. 

"We're going to sit down next week with guys that are much smarter on power units than myself, and take a view on what we see [Honda's] plans are and what they've accomplished."

Brown says it will be a solely sporting decision, with little immediate consideration for any potential financial issues.

"The best thing for McLaren is to make the best sporting decision possible, and in the business will follow suit," he explained.

"We're here to win. That's what makes us successful. So we're going to take a sporting decision.

"We can't afford not to be on the podium. So it's a big decision that has lots of elements to it, and economics are one.

"Fortunately we have extremely committed shareholders that we can make a sporting decision and deal with the economics."

It is understood the deal could hinge upon an agreement between Honda and Toro Rosso since Renault would otherwise be supplying four teams.

Daniel Ricciardo is confident he would be able to beat both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel to a world title in Formula 1 if given a competitive enough car.

The Australian, along with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, were considered among the potential title contenders at the start of the year, but instead, have endured a year of frustration as the Milton Keynes outfit has fallen back from Mercedes and behind a resurgent Ferrari.

The lack of performance has not quelled Ricciardo's ambition and his confidence in his own abilities, insisting he and Verstappen are both on the same level as the two main title contenders.

"Absolutely. I felt that since 2014," he told ESPN when asked if he felt ready to win a championship

"I felt like if I was in a Mercedes I could have won, and last year as well, two kinda key years. So I definitely believe in myself. Max has been, as a teammate goes, my greatest competitor yet and I think we've challenged each other more than anyone has before.

"We obviously both believe we could win. I look at Lewis and Seb and these other guys as being also at the top, but I don't see them being better than me or than Max. I think we could run with them, absolutely."

There was speculation Ricciardo could have gotten that more competitive car with potential interest from Ferrari for 2018. Though nothing emerged some are still pointing to 2019, when most of the top seats become available, however, the 28-year-old has played down the prospect, suggesting he wouldn't want to be the back-up for former teammate Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari setup.

"Obviously I'm in a position where I believe I should be fighting for the front," he told Sky Sports. "If a team said 'we'll sign you but you're going to play bridesmaid to this guy,' 100 percent I'm not signing there. It's something you'd talk about in early negotiations.

"I'm definitely in this sport to be successful. For me, success is now winning a world title. I've been fortunate to win some races and get the closest thing to it but the point now is to win enough in a season where it leads to a world title.

"For sure, Seb is happy with his [current] team-mate," he added, referring to Kimi Raikkonen. "That's clear to everyone."

Returning to this year and, on the chassis side, Red Bull has made strong progress throughout the year, after correlation issues in the wind tunnel development stage meant a different approach of trying to maximise downforce while also reducing drag in an attempt to have higher top speeds caused trouble.

But concerns over both the reliability and the performance of the Renault power unit continue to be raised, with some doubting if the team can win the title with the French manufacturer during this current engine formula. 

The improvements made since May had led Team Principal Christian Horner to set a target of out-scoring Ferrari over the final nine races but, despite a podium last Sunday at Spa, Ricciardo doubts that is attainable.

"Started off on the front foot, getting the podium in Spa, but at the end there I was pushing like hell there to keep Kimi behind me, but Lewis was pushing like hell to keep Seb behind him. So we were all attacking, we weren't saving tyres, and we were still a second a lap, at least I was, slower than Lewis and Seb.

"So we've still got some ground to make up. I think the next update we have is in Singapore, and that will be not only a circuit that suits us but with the upgrade will give us a realistic chance of fighting for another win."

Mercedes started the Italian Grand Prix weekend in the best way possible by leading both sessions on Friday ahead of their championship rivals Ferrari on their home turf.

The three-time world champions set the bar from early in Practice 1 as Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets by almost half a second before maintaining their grip at the top into the second session as Valtteri Bottas recovered to pip his teammate by less than half a tenth.

Despite, ending the day second overall, Hamilton was positive about how his day ran, even ending slightly early in the afternoon such was the serenity of proceedings.

“It's been a good day, a clean day,” he claimed. “We got the running done, we got through our program with no problems. The car seems nicely balanced here. We just have some work to do to drag out a little bit more performance.”

Though looking comfortable at the top, the threat from behind remains ever-present with Lewis admitting: “It looks quite close between us and the Ferraris, so I anticipate it's going to be similar to the last race in that sense.”

As for teammate Bottas, he had similar views to that of the Briton when reflecting on his practice day, admitting relief that forecasts of rain proved inaccurate, despite a brief shower in the morning.

“In FP1, we were actually ahead of the plan because we were still worried about the weather," he admitted. “I think it was a good day - at least I have a better feeling than I had after the Friday in Spa, everything started on the right foot.

“Initially in FP1 we went slightly in the wrong direction with the setup, but we managed to change it around for FP2 and the car felt a lot better.”

Bottas remains focused for the rest of the weekend, however, on what is a crucial weekend for the former Williams driver as pressure builds at Mercedes to back Hamilton for the world title.

“Overall, it was a positive day, the car is looking strong, but obviously it's the next two days that count,” he acknowledged.

Formula 1 Managing Director Ross Brawn has outlined his vision for the future of the sport, with an end to grid penalties and an alternative to DRS top of the list.

Under the current rules, drivers who exceed their allocation of power unit elements or gearboxes are hit with demotions.

Those who take a number of new components can face farcical penalties in excess of 50 places.

Brawn insists such issues should not affect the racing and is determined to find a compromise.

"I hate the fact that we're having to affect the racing because of the technical issues," the F1 veteran told Autosport.

"I know you can say if a car breaks down in a race that's a technical issue and you've affected the race, but I think the fans understand that.

"For a fan to stomach that his hero is on the back of the grid because he had to change the engine, that's not great sport.

"We've got to find a solution to that, either through a different form of penalty or to remove the penalty altogether and just live with the problem that it was trying to fix."

The 62-year-old is hopeful more "discrete" penalties can be introduced before the engine regulations are overhauled in 2021.

"Maybe we'll be able to implement a better solution before then, because it's a massively unpopular aspect of Formula 1 at the moment," he said.

"One of the things that has been suggested is loss of constructors' points. There could be other more discrete penalties.

"We used to have the token system for the engine, and that wasn't bad actually. It got a little bit complicated, but you could remove the tokens for a while.

"It needs a lateral think. The grid penalties are very unpopular, and we should be finding a better solution."

The so-called 'purists' have also been critical of DRS, an artificial overtaking aid.

Brawn shares their reservations but admits the design of the cars would need to be changed to ensure close racing.

"It's a compromise," he explained. "What we should do is find a better solution.

"What we really want is the cars to be able to slipstream one another properly and overtake.

"So for me, the solution, which we've now started a programme on, is to design the cars, so that they can race each other in close proximity.

"A current Formula 1 car is totally optimised around running by itself.

"The teams, when they go in the windtunnel and create their CFD programmes to develop the car, it's all done in isolation. So when you put another car around it, the car doesn't work as well.

"What we are working on is generating the capacity to look at cars that are racing each other in close proximity, and what sort of designs we need to enable that to happen.

"When we do that, which is our ambition for 2021, then we will have cars that don't need DRS."

Fernando Alonso has rejected a claim he made an ultimatum to McLaren following the Belgian Grand Prix that either they ditched engine partner Honda or he would leave.

There were some question marks around the Spaniard after the Japanese manufacturer found no problems with the power unit he raced with at Spa, despite pulling out of the race as a precaution after Alonso reported a problem.

That has led some to believe the double world champion simply parked it up after a difficult first half of the race, a suggestion he admitted had "surprised" him, but Alonso was more defiant in his tone when asked about the ultimatum claim.

“Absolutely not true," said Alonso. "I have absolutely not decided, and more than anything I'm not bigger than a team, I am not… we are 1,000 people in McLaren-Honda working for the championship.

"We know that things are not going in the right direction, we are not competitive enough after three years, we all want to change that situation, me as one of the 1000 people there.

"We are McLaren, we all want the same thing: to be competitive."

Questions surrounding the 36-year-old's future at McLaren have been swirling for about a year, with Fernando insisting it would be this summer and then more specifically September when he wanted to decide his 2018 plans.

"I'm getting there, it's the 31st of August," he joked when reminded of his own deadlines. "There's nothing really new on that, I will start sitting down with the team especially, what are the prospects for the future, the expectations for next year.

Interestingly, on Wednesday, Alonso caused a stir by replying with a GIF on Twitter to an IndyCar report in which former Manor driver Alex Rossi suggested he would find the competition he desired with a full-time switch, following his Indy 500 appearance in May.

Having insisted his intentions are to remain in F1 and claim a third world title, he would suggest that is not totally impossible with McLaren.

"We do have now some ingredients to be champions and the team did improve a lot in the last three years from when I arrived here," he claimed.

"I think we have the talent in the team, we have the facilities, we have everything, we just miss to be [being] more competitive, which is the most important thing. We will see what the numbers are saying for next year and after that try to make a decision."

Daniel Ricciardo expects to be handed an engine penalty at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix and therefore start at the back of the grid.

Under the current rules, drivers are allowed to use just four of each power unit component before incurring a penalty and the Red Bull driver is already on his fourth international combustion engine and turbocharger. 

The Aussie says he will "most likely" face a grid drop for using the fifth of both elements, but is confident he can come through the field.

"I don’t know if it has been made official," he said. "Starting from the back is pretty fun, especially around here at least you can pass.

"I don’t think I am the only one to start from the back, I think I will be in company, so it will be a race to see who can get through the field quickest. This is one of those circuits that is a bit of an exception. You have long straights and it is pretty wide in areas so you can find big braking zones."

Ricciardo has already come through the field once this season, having started at the back at Silverstone to finish fifth and doubted a suggestion that the 2017 cars could make it harder to do the same at Monza. 

"If Sunday turns out to be a stale race then that is probably a bigger issue because normally this track has been pretty easy to overtake," he said. 

"Sure braking zones will be shorter this year, we have more downforce and probably will be arriving slower, so that all gets trimmed down but I will like to think you can overtake here. I will be overtaking, I will just cut chicanes if I have to!"

This year's race winner in Baku revealed the main reason for the new engine parts is Red Bull have one eye at the next race in Singapore, where they have historically excelled, and the team were eager to avoid a penalty or failure which would scupper perhaps their best chance of beating Mercedes and Ferrari.

"Singapore is a circuit we are strong on, so I don’t want to take any risks in Singapore and have to risk a race with an old engine," he explained. "If we have to be strategic about it then we will. We are not in a comfortable position now to be taking many risks with the reliability, so we will play it safe."

Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen was also understood to be facing a potential grid drop following his engine problem that forced him to retire at Spa last weekend.

Lewis Hamilton has claimed Sebastian Vettel's new three-year contract at Ferrari has made his future Formula 1 career plan "easier", with a new Mercedes deal seemingly a formality.

The idea of the Briton one day driving for the Scuderia, though unlikely, had never been completely ruled out, as he had admitted it was one of his aspirations. With speculation then linking Vettel to Mercedes, the thought of a potential swap also didn't seem so outlandish.

But all that has now ended following the German's new deal with Hamilton saying on Thursday, he is simply watching the driver market unfold.

"I'm made aware of who contacts the team (Mercedes) and that's down to a great relationship that I have with (motorsport boss) Toto [Wolff]," he revealed ahead of the Italian GP.

"So he's very open with me about who calls. It's kind of interesting sometimes to hear who calls, and who's tried either to take my seat or take the seat next door to me.

"And then to see following those calls, the manoeuvres that happen, such as for example Sebastian signing. I don't know if everyone expected him to sign a three-year deal.”

Following the Vettel story, speculation has suggested Hamilton and Mercedes will respond with their own new three-year contract. Though he did not comment on length, the triple world champion did seem to confirm he would be staying beyond his current contract that ends at the end of 2018. 

"It doesn't really change much to me because I planned to extend with the team, which we will do at some point in the second half of the season or towards the end of the year,” he said.

"I know Toto has said that we'll wait until the end of the season because generally, that's what I like to do, there's no rush. I still have another year, so we have a lot of time. I think the last contract went all the way into the mid-part of the season.

“I know the team is fully committed to me," he added, "and I've never picked up the phone and spoken to any of those other teams. So I made that very clear to the guys.

"I'm not trying to weigh up my options, and if I was I'd call Toto and say I'm going to due diligence and see what options there are for me. Currently, I have no plans to do that.

"It's good for Sebastian that he's signed there [at Ferrari]. I think all things happen for a reason and in the kind of plan that I have coming up, my five years, whatever it is, six years that I have left in the sport, that piece of the puzzle is now in place, so it makes my decision moving forward a lot easier."

Known for his controversial opinions, 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has slammed Sergio Perez's actions as "dirty" against Force India teammate Esteban Ocon during the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Mexican was twice involved in contact with the 20-year-old on the run to Eau Rouge as the often combative partnership hit another sour note at Spa, even leading Ocon to claim Perez tried to "kill him" on social media afterwards.

Though not quite so strong, the Canadian was still far from impressed with the former Sauber and McLaren driver claiming his actions were inexcusable regardless of who he was racing.

"It doesn’t matter that it’s his teammate," he said. "Teammate, no teammate, it should not have happened between two drivers. You’re not so supposed to put anyone in danger. 

"You can brake too late, make a mistake, fine, but down the straight, you don’t weave and squish, you just don’t do that. It’s ridiculous. A piece of carbon went outside of the track. You can hurt someone from the public. This has to be stopped.

"That kind of move from Perez is not racing, it’s pure blocking. You don’t do that. It’s aggressive. It’s dirty."

Though Perez defended his actions by saying he took the normal racing line and it was Ocon that should have waited until after Eau Rouge, Villeneuve understood why the Mercedes junior did what he did.

"Ocon didn’t lift to prove a point, I guess," he said. "It’s ego, it’s an internal battle to see who would be the strongest in the team. There is this ego thing going on.

"Ocon was very ballsy, especially in the first one. Wow. He kept in it. That was impressive."

Finally, the former Williams, BAR and Sauber driver described it as an "embarrassment" that Perez was not penalised by the stewards for the incident, suggesting they are too busy giving other penalties for the wrong reasons.

"This is the most dangerous thing you can do in racing and they never penalise that in F1," he said. "Sometimes, people crash into each other because they messed up their braking and their fighting, that should not be penalised but they penalise that because there was an accident.

"This was embarrassing. They don’t give a penalty for it, especially when the FIA is pushing so much the safety. Even a four-year-old could see it. It’s ridiculous."

The result of what occurred at Spa is Force India has now introduced guidelines as to how their drivers can race, with team owner Vijay Mallya insisting the team has just one goal.

"At this stage of the season, it’s crucial we make the most of every opportunity to score points," he said."We have made both drivers aware of the new team policy designed to prevent incidents like the ones in Spa from reoccurring.

"As a team, we have a responsibility to defend our position and I am sure we will finish the season without any further issues. We have been competitive on every track so far and we intend to continue our strong season with another good performance in Monza."

Sebastian Vettel claims he is "surprised" at the notion that Ferrari uses Kimi Raikkonen as a No. 2 driver, insisting no team orders have been used during this season.

The Finn, who re-signed for another year with the team last week, has rarely been on the same level of his four-time world champion teammate this season, yet on the occasions that the two have raced closely on track, it has been the German that has come out on top.

The two most notable situations this season came in Monaco, where a better strategy allowed Vettel to overhaul Raikkonen in the pit-stop phase, and in Hungary, where the 2007 world champion tracked the current championship leader home despite appearing to have the faster car.

This had led to the assumption that the Italian team, which has a history of favouring one driver over the other, is doing so again but the 30-year-old insists that is not the case.

"I'm a bit surprised by the way things are put, [about] Kimi and myself, I can't speak for other people, [but] we've been racing each other all year," he claimed in Monza on Thursday. "I read [after the] Hungarian Grand Prix that he was protecting me... you should speak to him, he made it very clear, I don't think he was leaving anything behind.

"I think if he had the opportunity he probably would have passed me, or tried, that's fair enough, I think it would have been the same the other way around. We are racing obviously for the team, we both try to do our best.

"If it happens that you race for the same spot then you might meet on track, but you are both fighting for yourself. I don't know what other teams are doing, but for us, I think we are both going flat out, and we'll see what happens."

It's unlikely many will believe Vettel, however, particularly at Mercedes where Non-Executive Chairman Niki Lauda, himself a former Ferrari driver, claimed the Brackley team need to follow the Scuderia and back Lewis Hamilton in his title bid.

The Briton heads to the Italian Grand Prix seven points behind Vettel after his victory last weekend in Belgium, but it was the pace Sebastian showed that caught the eye and he is hopeful to maintain that at the 'Temple of Speed' as Ferrari look for their first home win in seven years.

“Going into this weekend, I think we need to be fair and say that the track layout suits Mercedes,” he admitted, “but the performance that we showed last week gives us hope.

“I think the form we showed at Spa was real and the speed was there in particularly in the race which, weeks ago on a similar kind of track maybe wasn’t the case.

"We try to do our best. There should be quite a good atmosphere and good support, so with all the love and passion we’ve received this year, we try to give something back.”

Mercedes Non-Executive Chairman Niki Lauda believes the team should now back Lewis Hamilton's bid for the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship against Sebastian Vettel.

The British driver moved to within seven points of the four-time world champion with his fifth victory of the season last weekend at Spa, while his teammate Valtteri Bottas fell back after disappointingly finishing fifth.

The two-time race winner insisted after the race that he remains in the title picture despite the 41-point gap, though at the same time conceded he would be willing to comply if Mercedes did take the No. 1 and No. 2 driver route to battle Ferrari, something the Austrian legend claims should now be done.

"This giving away of points must stop now," he insisted. "I was champion by half a point, so I know exactly how important every single point is when you count them in the end.

"I know exactly what we need to do. Bottas did not have a strong weekend at Spa so it is already clear that Lewis has a better chance for the championship. If Lewis had not given away those three points in Budapest, he would now be only four points behind Vettel," Lauda pointed out.

Motorsport boss Toto Wolff has signalled nothing will change for at least one more race, however, revealing the situation is being monitored in the best interests of both drivers.

"You can only beat an opponent like Ferrari when everything fits," he claimed. "We do want to keep ourselves open for all the options as long as possible and we also know that there is no manual for dealing with these problems.

"Ferrari has the luxury of one driver being clearly ahead of the other, so for now we will decide on a race by race basis," he added. "Let's see after Monza."

As for Hamilton, he is preparing for a titanic tussle with Vettel for the title, believing the way the momentum has swung points to a likely championship decider.

"I can't predict it, but just from what we have experienced up until now and how close we were [at Spa], for sure it's how it's going to be and it's going right down to the wire," the triple world champion said.

"I am sure he was hoping I was going to make mistakes, but that was not happening. I think that's what it can come down to, reliability, it can come down to the pendulum shifting a millimetre in performance either way and it's down to us, and consistency."